186 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
June 
FATTENING HOGS. 
L. Tucker, Esq.- — I have frequently seen in the Cul¬ 
tivator details of experiments which I think are calcu¬ 
lated to throw light upon the science of agriculture; 
and I should be glad to hear through that medium, from 
those that have had experience upon fattening cattle 
and sheep with the ruta-baga, carrot, beet, &c. I hope 
they will not wait until they can tell a favorable story. 
Let us have the truth, whether favorable or unfavora¬ 
ble. 
I hereby send a few accounts of rearing shoats and 
fattening hogs, which I have tested. I do not think the 
breeds were of the most approved kinds. I bought the 
stock, having partly fallen into the opinion that “ the 
breed is in the mouth, as one of my neighbors says. I 
am now satisfied that the less those persons have to do 
with hogs who pay no attention to the breed, the better. 
9th mo., 8th, 1844, I shut up 5 pigs, worth.$9*50 
They consumed 34| bu. corn in the ear, 20 cts.,. 6.90 
22£ “ corn meal, 40 cts.,. 8.93 
15 “ apples, 6 cts.,. 90 
5^ “ potatoes, 25 cts.,. 1.38 
Amount,...$27.61 
3d mo., 25th, 1845, sold the above pigs at 3^ cts. 
a pound, alive,... 25.00 
Loss,. $2.61 
Again in the spring of 1845, I had 16 pigs 
worth,. $16.00 
They consumed 261 lbs. feed at 70 cts. a hun’d, 1.83 
67 bu. corn meal, at 45 cts.,.. 30.15 
17-| “ hog corn, at 40 cts.,... 7.00 
28f “ ears corn at 25 cts.,.... 7.19 
36| “ potatoes, at 25 cts.,.... 9.12 
41 “ carrots, at 25 cts.,. 10.25 
19 “ beets, at 25 cts.,. 4.75 
2 pigs added to the above,. 5.40 
Time of feeding, about,. 0.00 
Amount,. 91.69 
Cr. 
By 6 pigs sold, $1.50,. $9.50 
“ 7 barrows sold, at 3f cts. a pound,. 35.23 
“ 5 sows, “ 34 “ . 22.99 
—-$67.72 
Loss,. $23.87 
Again, 9th mo., 8th, 1844, I put up a sow to 
fatten, worth. $7.50 
Feed, 7-| bu. apples, at 6 cts.,. .45 
If “ potatoes, at 25 cts.,. . . 4 
17f “ corn in ear, at 20 cts.,. 3.45 
4-i “ meal, at 40 cts.,. 1.80 
2| <f cob meal, at 20 cts.,. .50 
Amount,. $14.14 
Slaughtered the above and sold 365 lbs., at 4 cts., 14.60 
Gain, .. .46 
The above sow was more than an ordinary sow for 
goodness. 
And again, 9th mo., 8th, 1844, I put another sow 
with the above, which we will suppose ate as much as 
she. The grain and other things for these two, as well 
as for the other lots, was accurately measured. 
Worth of sow,. $5.00 
Amount of grain, &c., consumed,. 6.64 
Amount,.$11.64 
Slaughtered and sold,. 7.05 
Loss,. $4.59 
This sow did not do well, perhaps we ought not to 
consider it a fair case. Let others give their experi¬ 
ence and we shall be enabled to judge of the profits and 
losses. J. E. Macomber. 
Farmington, 4 th mo., 17th, 1846. 
WESTERN SALT. 
Mr. Tucker. —In the last (Dec.) No. of the Cultiva¬ 
tor, is an essay “ on the curing of provisions for the 
British Market,” by “an apprenticed packer.” His 
directions are no doubt good, much superior to the care¬ 
less, go-ahead mode usually practised in this coun¬ 
try. And provisions, so put up would not only be 
much better for the British market, but for our own; 
and no doubt would pay for the extra care and attention. 
I find in the article mentioned, the following: “ By 
way of parenthesis, it may as well be here noted, that 
neither Kanawha, Zanesville, or Goose creek salt should 
be allowed to touch your meat, either directly by mix¬ 
ture with the salt, or indirectly, through the medium 
of brine; for so sure as any of these salts are used, so 
sure will your meat become slimy like fish, and be im¬ 
perfectly cured.” By this, great injustice is done to 
the salts named, and especially Kanawha. To correct 
which, and that our domestic manufacture may stand 
on its own merits, divested of prejudice is the object of 
this communication. 
I would state that I have been many years at Kana¬ 
wha, and a few years at Geddes, N. Y., engaged in the 
manufacture of salt, both coarse and fine, and that I am 
not now engaged in its manufacture anywhere, or have 
any interest in it, direct or indirect. I would premise 
that all the salt water obtained anywhere in the Ohio 
Valley, or on any of the tributaries of that river, is of a 
different quality, or the impurities in it are different 
from that got in any other section of the United States. 
The impurities in the salt water within the region men¬ 
tioned, are all of them muriates, or what the chemists 
would call of this order. Consequently there is 
none, or if any, a mere trace of either the carbonate or 
sulphate of lime, the great impurities that the manufac¬ 
turers have to contend against in New-York, and at 
Holston in this state. The weight of all these im¬ 
purities is much greater than that of brine, and will not 
crystalize except at a great heat, or incorporate with 
the crystal of salt only when the heat is great enough 
to produce considerable agitation in the brine. 
Now my process of making brine, that will com¬ 
pletely saturate it with salt, must and will throw to the 
bottom all these impurities, and if suffered to re¬ 
main in a state of rest for twenty-four hours, and drawn 
off without agitation will afford a pure brine. The 
quantity of impurities at the bottom will of course de¬ 
pend on the purity of the salt; which can easily be told 
in drawing off, by the greasy and slimy appearance, as 
soon as all the pure brine is exhausted. 
Tc make pure and perfect brine from any salt, or 
salt of the quality of the ordinary fine salt of Kanawha, 
Zanesville, Goose Creek, or of the Onondag-a, N. Y. 
fine salt, put in fifty pounds of salt to every sixteen gal¬ 
lons of rain or river water, heated to the temperature of 
150 degrees ; stir it well for an hour or two, and let it 
stand perfectly still for twenty-four hours, and it is fit 
for drawing off, and it is pure brine down to the impu¬ 
rities, which are all in the bottom and are, if of the 
western salt, as before described—if or the N. Y. salt, a 
mass of white matter like lime. If it should be wished 
to make brine from cold water, salt and water in the 
same proportion; but should be well stirred, for a week 
or ten days, each day; and then suffered to stand for 24 
or 48 hours, and proceed as before. The colder the 
water the greater the length of time necessary to make 
perfect brine; and a certain test at all times, is to sus¬ 
pend a small line over the brine so that it will sink in¬ 
to it a few inches; when the crystals of salt adhere to 
the line, it is then saturated and pure brine. 
Undoubtedly it will take more of the common salt of 
our country to make a given quantity of pure brine than 
it will of the pure coarse salt either of the domestic or 
imported article; but then the difference in the price 
will make the common article much the cheapest. 
The salt heretofore manufactured at Kanawha was 
made in iron kettles with rapid boiling; consequently, 
as is the case with all salt so made, much of the impuri¬ 
ty that is in the salt water is incorporated in the crys- 
