APRIL 42 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
244 
RURAL PRIZE ESSAY.— Class V. 
SWINE —THE BEST BREEDS AND HOW BEST 
TO BREED AND CARE FOR THEM. 
F, A. DEKKENS. 
The trade of this country in hog products 
has assumed such proportions that the above 
question is a most pertinent one. In spite of 
the bad name he bears, the hog still is recog¬ 
nized as a humble benefactor of mankind. 
The “ Old English hog” and the “ Irish Gray- 
hound,” like our ancient ancestry, who used 
to chase them through the forests of Great 
Britain aud Ireland, were huge, ungainly 
monsters, with coarse bristles, thick legs, big 
snouts aud but little meat. The American 
Razor-back was only an American type of the 
ancestral hog, and but very little effort was 
made to improve any of the breeds until the 
beginning of the present century, and it is 
surprising what a great change has been 
wrought in the pig until, in some of the finer 
breeds, we have produced such a wonderful 
metamorphosis that one of the “ old originals” 
might be excused- did he fail to recognize our 
modern beauties as his kin. In fact, we have 
gone so far iu seeking to eliminate the objec¬ 
tionable development of head, that we have 
gone to the other extreme to such an extent 
as to make it often difficult to distinguish the 
head from the other extremity. However 
well such grotesque little figures may be 
adapted to sty feeding, they are surely dis¬ 
qualified from earning an honest living in the 
woods or on the prairies. 
At present, the pig is a very popular fellow, 
not so much ou his personal account, as on 
account of the products be furnishes and the 
wants he supplies,aud his popularity is grow¬ 
ing, Paddy, in Ireland, treats him like a 
“rale giutleman,” and regards him as about 
the only beiug able to pay the “riot.” John 
Chinaman’s weakness for roast pig is pro¬ 
verbial, and in this couutry few persons are 
proof against the seductive influence of a 
first-class ham, a sweet spare rib, or a plate 
of good home-made sausage. And as a pay¬ 
ing investment, the pig is not to be despised; 
but, as in other farm industries, the profits 
in pig raising greatly depend upon the care 
the pig receives. Care embraces these im¬ 
portant. conditions:—cleanliness, regularity 
and plenty of good food. Should these be se¬ 
cured, profit is almost sure to follow, while 
carolessuess or neglect certainly entails loss. 
There are many breeds seeking public 
favor, from which we can select our hog for 
profit. For size alone, the Large Yorkshire 
stands pre-eminent and alone. He will weigh 
at three years old as much as a good-sized 
donkey; but as large carcasses just now are 
not in demand, hogs of those breeds that do 
not exceed 2<)0 to 250 pounds are much pre¬ 
ferred, because more juicy and of finer text¬ 
ure and better flavor than the larger, coarser, 
and fatter carcasses. Next to those rank 
the Polaud-China, Chester White and the 
Duroc-Jersey. The former is possibly the 
result of a cross between the Black Nea¬ 
politan and the Chinese pig, with subsequent 
crosses from other strains. He is very 
popular iu certain localitias, being hurdy, 
and well able to take care of himself; a good 
grower, and fair fattener to a good weight. 
The pure-bred pigs have straight backs, deep 
aud compact bodies, aud are covered with 
thick, fine hair, mostly black. The Chester- 
Whites are handsome animals, very pre¬ 
cocious, attaining a large size at an early 
age; but they are not so well adapted as the 
above for roughing it. Ihiroc-Jerseys have 
many admirers, though they are not strictly 
handsome. They are inclined to coarseness, 
but fatten readily under difficulties; make 
excellent, store pigs, are remarkably hardy, 
and register very heavy weights. 
We will give these course, large breeds 
their due. They are all hardy and prolific, 
but not dainty; they are well adapted to roam 
about in woodland and other coarse pastures; 
but none of them have much aptitude to fat¬ 
ten early, and they make rather coarse pork. 
A most beautiful little pig is the genuine 
“Small Yorkshire;” he is a perfect picture; 
and it would seem impossible to breed any uui- 
mal having more economical proportions for 
meat-making. Digs of this breed are not so 
small us their name would imply, sometimes 
weighing from 160 to 170 pounds at six mouths 
old. They are broad on the back, which is 
very straight; deep in the body; with a very 
short snout, and fine legs, and altogether they 
are a most desirable breed. 
Another of the small breeds once very popu¬ 
lar is the Suffolk; but I have found my pure 
Suffolks shy breeders, and, though fattening 
easily at any age and remarkably fast, they 
are liable to get over-fat, and too much fat is 
au objection with the town butcher, as the 
sides of these chunky little fellows are but 
sparingly streaked with lean. Perfection is 
hard to obtain, and we can hardly create an 
animal combining every good quality; we 
must needs sacrifice some peculiarity in order 
to secure some other which wc may deem more 
desirable. In tbe finer breeds, constitution 
and a certain degree of muscular power have 
been lost in gaining early maturity and ra¬ 
pidity of fattening. 
Having looked at the good points of all 
these breeds and briefly pointed out their 
faults, I must now sum up by claiming 
that, all things considered, the Berkshire is 
the best of all the thoroughbred hogs. 
He is of medium size, grows rapidly, 
is healthy, hardy, and his fecundity is lieyond 
question. He is of good form, fine bone and 
carcass, and makes good aud desirable pork; 
and yet, for the average farmer, I must con¬ 
cede that there is more money in a judicious 
selection and a crossing of the different breeds. 
A breed most suitable for one part of the 
country, however, may not be best adapted to 
other sections, where pork is made for differ¬ 
ent pui-poses, under different circumstances, 
aud for different markets. 
The prolificacy of swine constitutes one of 
their chief attractions to the breeders. If well- 
bred aud amply-fed, the profits from the sale 
of prime young porkers to the city butchers, 
will be considerable; often larger than i f they 
had been fed up to maturity. Au ordinary 
sow should produce a couple of litters each 
year,and the disposal of a score or more of good 
pigs would place no small sum to her credit. 
Should large litters of medium pigs be desired, 
the crossing of a large common or Yorkshire 
sow with a fine Berkshire boar, will result in 
the pigs partaking of the finer qualities of the 
boar, combined with the greater hardiness of 
the mother. 
In Summer the pig-sty should be roomy and 
airy; but warm, drv, and free from draughts 
in Winter. The feeding-troughs should be so 
constructed aud arranged that the food will 
not be fouled, nor the pigs allowed to inter¬ 
fere with each other. The floor should slope 
in the direction of a narrow tank at the lower 
end, in which the liquid waste will beeollected. 
This tank can be covered with a simple wooden 
grating. For grown pigs it is well to have 
swing doors leading from the stye into the 
sUbning yard, aud these should be hung from 
the top. As fat pigs suffer greatly from the 
heat, where access to water in which to roll is 
denied, their yard should be partially shaded 
by trees. 
Pigs appreciate variety in their food. Long- 
continued feeding on corn alone should not 
be practiced. Occasional sprinkling of salt., 
ashes, and even slaked lime iu their swill, will 
contribute materially to their good health. A 
little charcoal may also be given as a purify¬ 
ing agent; it will assist digestion, exercise a 
beneficial effect, and counteract any tendency 
to cholera or typhoid complaints. Pigs which 
have their liberty need none of these things. 
Sty pigs should be fed at regular intervals, 
and be given only as much food as they will 
eat up with a relish. All the butter-milk and 
whey that are available should be given, thick¬ 
ened with a mixture of bran and corn or pea- 
meal. They should also have some greeu sods 
or vegetables daily. If pigs were all fed on 
clean and wholesome food, I believe we should 
uever hear of a case of trichinosis. 
In the case of farrowing sows, preparation* 
should be made in advance. A roomy sty, 
partially dorkeued, should be given; and the 
sow fed on light food for a week or so before 
the expected event. Dry leaves or finely-cut 
straw are the best materials for a bed. To 
prevent overlaying and the crushing of the 
pigs, stout rails may bo fastened round tbe 
inside of the sty, eight or nine inches above 
the ground, aud projecting about the same 
dLstauce from the walls. Being very- sensitive 
to cold aud draughts, these should be guarded 
against. In my experience, the best food for 
sows after farrowing, is scalded bran or shorts, 
with a handful of corn-meal and a very little 
salt. Milk should be withheld for a few days 
lest it produce eonstipatiou. After the first 
week more generous food, such as milk with 
scalded corn or pea-meal, may be substituted. 
This will prevent the pigs from scouring, an 
ailment to which they are especially liable in 
cold weather. 
As soon as the pigs begin to feed on their 
own account, they should be taught to drink; 
good milk should be given them in a troigh 
by themselves. With warm quarters and a 
plentiful supply of milk thickened with wheat 
middlings and meal, they should make deli¬ 
cious young pork at five months old, weighing 
from 80 to 1.50 pounds, aud should bring prices 
that will pay a good profit to the grower. 
Federalsburg, Md. 
RURAL PRIZE ESSAY.— Class VI. 
HORSES.—THE BEST FOR THE FARM AND THE 
ROAD. 
A. L. SARDY. 
If I were called upon to name the two re¬ 
quisites most necessary for a farmer to pos¬ 
sess, iu addition to a good farm, I should say 
a good wife and a good team; and when a 
young farmer becomes possessed of these, he 
has made a good start on the road to success. 
While no industry of the farm pays better 
than raising good horses, none is more unpro¬ 
fitable thau that of rearing inferior ones. It 
costs but little more to raise a horse which, 
when six years old, will command a ready 
sale at $400 or $500, than one which can with 
difficulty be disposed of for $100; or than it 
does to raise a heifer or a steer which, at ma¬ 
turity. is worth $50 or $75. The best team 
for the farmer is the one which will best an¬ 
swer off the pui-poses of the farm: plowing, 
hauling, taking the farmer and his family to 
town, or his boys and their sweethearts for a 
lively sleigh ride: and, in addition to all this, 
will give him a pair of colts every year, 
which will earn their keep from the time 
they are two years old, until they are sold for 
$800 or $1,000 at five or six. The team to do 
this is a pair of handsome bay mares 10 
hands high, weighing 1,200 to 1,250 pounds 
each, with small, bony heads; large nostrils; 
broad foreheads: large, bright eyes; small, 
taperiDg ears; long necks, nicely arched, 
deep as they spring from the shoulders and 
small at the throat-latch; long, oblique shoul¬ 
der blades: moderately high withers; short 
backs, and deep but not over-broad chests, 
because a horse with a very wide breast, al¬ 
though usually of good constitution and great 
strength, isseldom a graceful or rapid trotter: 
is apt to have a “paddling” gait, and if used for 
road work will generally give out in the fore¬ 
legs from the extra strain put upon them by 
the weight of the broad chest. Our team must 
also have long, muscular thighs: large knees 
and other joints; short cannon (shin) bones; 
legs broad below the knees, and hocks with 
the sinews clearly defined: fetlocks fiee from 
long hair; long, moderately oblique pasterns; 
rather small, though not contracted feet; 
broad loins: wide, smooth hips, and long, full 
tails. They must hare plenty of nervous 
energy, and good knee action; must be prompt, 
free drivers, capable of trotting a mile in 
four minutes; be fast walkers, and good, 
hearty eaters; must not “interfere,” and 
must carry their heads well up without checks 
when on the road. 
It will readily be seen that these mares are 
neither Clydesdales. Normans. Canadians, 
Arabians, Thoroughbreds nor Trotters; but 
they are a team which will pull the plow 
through two acres of land in a day*, will pull 
a ton, yes, two. if the roads are good, of pro¬ 
duce to the village four miles off iu less than 
au hour, and trot back with the empty wagon 
in half that time without distressing them¬ 
selves or their driver. Should the farmer 
have a trip of 20 miles to make on business or 
pleasure, he can hitch them to his spring 
wagon, take his wife and children with him. 
and they need not be away from home more 
than three hours; or should he choose to go 
on horseback, he can mount one of tbe mares 
and enjoy a ride on a vei-y fair saddle horse. 
A team of Clydesdales may pull a heavier 
load at a dead drag; Canadians will stand more 
exposure and poorer fare; Arabians are bet¬ 
ter saddle horses; Thoroughbreds can out¬ 
run them; Trotters, when hitched to alight 
buggy, can pass them on the road; but neither 
of these breeds combine anything like the 
desirable qualities for a farmer, that the team 
which I described, possesses: and when it 
becomes desirable to dispose of their produce, 
the colts of such mares will find a readier 
sale thau those of any of the others, being 
exactly suited to the wants of the rich city 
gentlemau for his family carriage; for which 
he must have a strong, handsome, showy 
team, and as such teams are always scarce, 
he must pay a good price for them. 
Large dray horses usually bring remuner¬ 
ative prices; but few men will pay as much 
for a team to haul their bales of cotton, or 
barrels of flour, as they will for a team to 
draw their families in Central or Lincoln 
Park, in Winter, aud at. Newport, or Long 
Branch, in the Summer, where each million¬ 
aire strives to outdo the others in the beauty 
aud style of his carriage horses. 
It will be useless for the farmer to try to 
get such horses as these for a very low price; 
but when he has found them, never mind the 
price; an extra hundred dollars or so invest¬ 
ed in such a span, will pay better interest 
than fu the savings hank. When the farmer 
has obtained his team of mares, let him look 
for a stallion of as nearly the same type as 
he can find. He must be fully 16 hands high, 
of good disposition, and have the .bold, high 
knee action which characterizes a fine car¬ 
riage horse, for which rich buyers are willing 
to pay liberally. If this horse can trot in 
three minutes instead of four, so much the 
better. 
By planning for the arrival of colts in the 
Autumn, the work of the team will only be 
lost for a few days at a season when its loss 
will cause but little inconvenience. Experi¬ 
ence proves that mares in foal, if liberally 
fed and attended to by a careful man, may 
be worked, and worked hard, without detri¬ 
ment to themselves or their foals; but while 
suckling the colts, they must be worked only 
moderately, or tbe supply of milk will be di. 
minished in quantity and injured in quality, 
to the lasting disadvantage of the colts. The 
little things may safely be allowed to follow 
their dams on the road where they will soon 
become accustomed to the various sights and 
sounds, and the exercise will be far better for 
them than to be shut up in a box-stall or pen, 
to cry for their mothers until these return 
excited and feverish, with their milk in a con¬ 
dition totally unfitted for the colts’ nourish¬ 
ment. I have allowed a colt three weeks old 
to follow his dam 30 miles on a hot day in 
July, without injury; I still have that colt, 
and he is a good one. 
By the time the heavy Spring work begins, 
the colts will be large enough, to wean, say 
when six months old, and very soon after that 
time the grass will be sufficiently advanced 
for them to be turned out to pasture; but long 
before this, it will have been necessary to com¬ 
mence feeding them, not only all the good hay 
they will eat, but also two or tfiree quarts of 
good oats daily to each. Having had leisure 
time through the Winter, yon will have thor¬ 
oughly halter-broken them while you are 
stronger than they; taught them to hold up 
their feet; given them frequent grooming, 
using the brush freely and the curry-comb 
sparingly; in all of which operations you 
will have exercised the greatest kindness and 
patience, never striking a blow and always 
remembering that pluck, courage, and deter¬ 
mination are as necessary in a horse as in a 
man, and that he will surely lack them if 
his spirit, is broken by cruel treatment, close 
confinement, or insufficient food. 
New York City. 
f or Wornftt. 
CONDUCTED BY Mis: RAY CLARK. 
WHAT BABY’S LITTLE BROTHER IS 
GOOD FOR. 
W hat are you good for. my brave little man? 
Answer that question for me if you ran. 
You with your ringlets as bright as the sun. 
You with your fingers as white as a nun. 
All the day long with your busy contriving. 
Into some mischief and fun you ar« diving. 
See if your wise little noddle can tell. 
What you are good for? Now ponder it well. 
From over the caroet. two little feet 
Came with a patter to climb on a seat: 
Two rouglsh eyes, full of frolic and glee. 
From under their lashes look’d up tome. 
Two little bands laid so soft on my face. 
Pulling me down In a loving embrace. 
Two rosy Ups gave the answer so true. 
Good to love you, mamma, good to love you. 
WOMAN'S GARDENING. 
W hen boiling down lye for soap, throw the 
bones in a kettle of lye, boil till soft, take 
them out and dry them. Have them powdered 
till flue; mix them with a quantity of earth 
from the wood-pile, say a peck to a half-gallon 
of bones, a gallon of sandy loam anda half-gal¬ 
lon sweepings of hen-house. Mix well and 
sift on a large cloth. Put. the coarse, left in 
sifter, in the bottom of pots or shallow boxes, 
fill up with the fine earth to within one inch 
of top; plant tomato, celery, cress, lettuce or 
flower seeds, water with hot water; sift over 
enough earth to cover them, lay a pane of 
glass over each, set over the mantel-piece till 
sprouted, then in a sunny window or in the 
open air when warm. Water when dry, and 
sift on more earth when they grow too tall. 
Thus you may have plants to set in the open 
ground as soon as the earth becomes workable. 
I always raise my celery iu this manner, and 
transplant to the trenches in June. 
The tomato plants may be lifted with a 
spoon and put siugly intosmullpots and turned 
ont into the ground iu April, when broken 
fruit jars may be inverted over them imtil 
they become established; after which, train 
them to supports as soon as necessary, aud 
water with liquid fertilizer at the roots when 
about to lie hoed. 
These same fruit, jars, or bottomless bottles, 
will do to turn over the cucumber or melon 
plants as soon as they appeal* above ground, 
to protect from bugs. Or four bricks may 
serve as a wall, with a pane of glass ou top. 
Iu this manner 1 pick out and plant the seed 
from the Rural New-Yorker. I have a 
fine Niagara Grape vine in a pot already bud- 
