16 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[January, 
Berkshire Swine. 
There is no domestic animal more easily 
improved than the pig, and it is a great pity 
that there should be so much carelessness in 
breeding this valuable farm stock. There is 
too great a tendency to kill the best hogs in 
the fall and save the poorer ones for breed¬ 
ing purposes. In many instances, a pure- 
blooded hog brought into a drove of common 
stock has improved it wonderfully; and from 
a single pig a good influence may extend 
over a whole neighborhood. The Berkshire 
breed of swine is one of the best for general 
farm use. The black color, that is not even 
“skin-deep,” is objected to by some, but when 
•dressed, the skin 
is as white as 
could be desired. 
The Berkshire 
holds an interme¬ 
diate place be¬ 
tween the large 
and small breeds, 
though specimens 
have been pro¬ 
duced, under the 
most favorable 
•conditions, that 
compared very 
well with those of 
the largest breeds. 
T?he fqrm of the 
Berkshire pig is a 
fine one, well fill¬ 
ed out, sides deep, 
hack broad, rump 
drooping; the legs 
are short and 
strong, head mod¬ 
erately small, face 
dished, ears prick¬ 
ed or sometimes 
drooping, and 
eyes large and 
bright. The hair 
varies from a 
thick silky coat 
with those that 
are given plenty of out-door exercise, to a 
thin, weak growth when the animal is closely 
penned. The white hairs in a pure-blood 
should be confined to the feet, a large patch 
in the forehead, and a small spot behind each 
shoulder. The pork is a good mixture of fat 
and lean; an “evenness of flesh” as the butch¬ 
ers say, and of fine quality. The Berkshire 
pig does not fatten as quickly as some other 
breeds, and is therefore better adapted for 
hams, bacon, etc., than for small fresh pork. 
The engraving represents a choice specimen 
of the modern and much improved Berkshire. 
I^oolc after ll»e Wagon Wlieels.— 
The severest strain, in the cart or carriage, 
comes upon the wheels. The felloes espe¬ 
cially are exposed to alternate mud and 
drouth, according to the prevailing weather. 
The paint soon wears off, and the wood ab¬ 
sorbs the water from every mud puddle 
through which the vehicle is driven. In a 
dry time the wood shrinks and the tire gets 
loose. The remedy is a new setting of the 
tire, and a bill from the blacksmith. It is 
much cheaper to clean up the carriage oc¬ 
casionally, and give the wheels a dressing of 
linseed oil, as hot as it can be put on. The 
wood will absorb a good deal of the oil and 
will swell the rim so as to make the tire 
tight. It will prevent the rotting of the 
wood and make long-lived wheels. When 
the wheels have soaked up all the oil they 
will take, put on a good coat of paint. 
Chemistry of the Farm and Garden.—I. 
Agriculture in its widest sense compre¬ 
hends a vast range of subjects, and includes 
in its scope something from nearly every 
branch of human knowledge. The natural 
sciences are most intimately related to the 
growth of crops, the feeding of animals, and 
the tillage of the soil; in short, Agricultural 
Science is made up of that portion of physics, 
botany, chemistry, zoology, meteorology, 
geology, physiology, etc., that pertains to the 
farm and garden. Chemistry is the science 
which deals with the elements of matter, 
and the forces by which these elements com¬ 
bine to form compounds. Matter is that 
which has size and weight. There are over 
sixty different kinds of matter known to 
chemistry, and out of these an almost count¬ 
less number of compounds are found. Some 
of the most abundant elements are oxygen, 
hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, silicon, iron, 
zinc, aluminum, gold, silver, etc. Water is 
a familiar example of a compound substance. 
It is a compound of the first two elements 
named in the above list. Matter exists in 
three states: solid, liquid, and gas. Oxygen, 
and hydrogen, when uncombined, are gases, 
or aiiriform bodies; but when the two enter 
into chemical union, their identity is destroy¬ 
ed, and a compound is formed that is very 
different from either. Water is an excellent 
illustration of the three states that a sub¬ 
stance may assume according to circum¬ 
stances of temperature, pressure, etc. At 
ordinary temperature it is a liquid, and makes 
up the substance of river, lake, and ocean, 
but in the cold weather of winter, it freezes 
into a solid called ice. When heated to boil¬ 
ing, water passes into a third state called 
steam, the “ air-form,” or gaseous condition. 
These changes of a substance from one form 
to another, by differences of temperature, 
etc., are physical changes, and exhibit physi¬ 
cal properties in matter. Chemical changes 
are those that, when undergone by any sub¬ 
stance, are permanent. The water was physi¬ 
cally changed in passing from a liquid to a 
solid, but it is water still, and will become 
liquid again so soon as the temperature of 
the surrounding air passes above the freez¬ 
ing point. When a piece of wood is burned 
it undergoes a chemical change, and nothing 
can restore the original wood. A mass of 
iron may be melted into a cannon ball, re¬ 
cast into a stove, cut into nails, or worked 
up as watch springs, and it still preserves 
the physical pro¬ 
perties of iron; it 
has undergone 
only physical 
changes. On the 
other hand, if the 
iron is exposed to 
moist air, it soon 
becomes coated 
with a red pow¬ 
der, or iron rust. 
If sulphuric acid 
be poured upon 
the iron, there is 
found a green 
crystalline solid, 
known as green 
vitriol, or sulphate 
of iron. In both of 
these cases chem¬ 
ical affinity has 
destroyed the pro¬ 
perties of the iron, 
and two chemical 
compounds have 
been produced, 
differing as much 
from each other 
as from the orig¬ 
inal iron. In this 
way substances 
lose their identity 
through chemical 
action. Such changes as these are constantly 
going on in all parts of the farm and garden; 
in the soil and air, with still more complicated 
ones within every growing plant #nd animal. 
All matter is divided into two great 
classes: organic and inorganic. The for¬ 
mer is the product of vital growth, and 
makes up the structure of all plants and 
animals. Any matter that is not a part or 
product of a living organism is of the latter, 
or inorganic class. Organic matter, by the 
process of decay, returns to the inorganic state 
from which it was raised by the processes of 
life. Fire, or combustion, which is only a 
rapid form of decay, quickly resolves a 
highly complicated organic substance into 
simpler inorganic substances. The combus¬ 
tible parts of organic bodies is made up 
chiefly of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and 
nitrogen, with a small amount of phosphorous 
and sulphur. The ashes remaining after 
burning contain silicon, chlorine, sodium, 
potash, calcium, magnesia, iron, manganese, 
and other substances in small quantities. 
With this, as a general introduction, arti¬ 
cles will follow, in subsequent numbers 
of the American Agriculturist , upon the 
most important chemical elements and com¬ 
pounds interested in the production of the 
various products of the farm and garden. 
an improved Berkshire pig. —Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
