1848. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
139 
He prefers the Mackay hog to all other breeds that 
he has known, for their early maturity, depth of car¬ 
cass, and great weight in the more profitable parts, 
thinness and whiteness of skin, &c. By breeding in 
and in, they had become enfeebled in constitution, and 
it became necessary to cross them, somewhat, with 
other breeds in order to remedy the defect. He is now 
crossing them with the Suffolk breed, and, judging from 
the few specimens of this cross which I saw, I should 
say that it produces a hog of desirable properties in 
eveiy respect. The Suffolks are remarkable for thrift, 
vigor of constitution, early maturity, &c., but have not 
quite the depth of carcass, I should think, of the 
Mackays. So far as my experience goes, I should con¬ 
sider this depth of carcass a very essential point. I 
have invariably found, in my pens, that a hog of great 
roundness of form does not, at killing time, open well. 
Another recommendation, as I consider it, these hogs 
are perfectly white. If the pigs are to be killed at the 
age of nine months, Mr. Phinney would advise that they 
be kept as fat as possible all the time; but if intended 
for killing at the age of fifteen or eighteen months, 
they should not be full-fed for the first ten or twelve 
months. 
Upon this subject he says: “To satisfy myself of the 
benefit of this course, I took 6 of my best pigs, 8 weeks 
old, all of the same litter, and shut them in two pens, 
three in each. Three of these I fed very high, and 
kept them as fat all the time as they could be made. 
The other three were fed sparingly, upon coarse food, 
but kept in a healthy growing condition, till within 4 
or 5 months of the time of killing, when they were fed 
as high as the others. They were all slaughtered at 
the same time, being then sixteen months old. At the 
age of nine months the full fed pigs were much the 
heaviest, but at the time of killing, the pigs fed spar¬ 
ingly for the first ten or twelve months, weighed upon 
an average, fifty pounds each more than the others. 
Besides this additional weight of pork, the three ‘ lean 
kine’ added much more than the others to my manure 
heap. These results would seem very obvious to any 
one who has noticed the habits of the animal. In con¬ 
sequence of short feeding they were much more active 
and industrious in the manufacture of compost, and 
this activity at the same time caused the muscles to 
enlarge and the frame to spread, while the very fat 
pigs became inactive, and like indolent bipeds, they 
neither worked for their own benefit nor for that of 
others.” 
The pigs intended for killing at fifteen to sixteen 
months, are kept upon light feed for ten or twelve 
months, and in the summer green clover, cornstalks, 
weeds, See., are thrown into the pens, daily. The re¬ 
mainder of the time, until slaughtered, they are full- 
fed upon Indian or barley meal, in equal quantities 
with potatoes, pumpkins or apples, the whole being 
thoroughly and nicely cooked and salted, and fed about 
blood-warm, it is considered, from repeated experi¬ 
ments, that two dollars worth of material, thoroughly 
cooked, will make as much pork as three dollars worth 
of the same material, given in a raw state. 
Upon the subject of care and feeding, Mr. P. says: 
u On regular and systematic feeding, and clean and 
dry bedding, the success of raising and fattening swine 
very much depends. A faithful feeder, also, who has 
some skill and taste, and withal a little pride of voca¬ 
tion, is indispensible. Homer informs us that much of 
the success of Ulysses in rearing his fine hogs, was to 
be attributed to his faithful Umeus, whom the old sol¬ 
dier styled god-like swine-feeder.” 
The Imported Stock of the Mass. Society.— 
In addition to twenty or thirty cows, kept for supply¬ 
ing milk for the city of Boston, is the imported stock 
and their offspring, belonging to the “ Massachusetts 
Society for promoting agriculture,” which are kept on 
this farm. This ancient and trulj honorable Society, 
have set the rest of us an example worthy of all imi¬ 
tation. They have formerly spent thousands of dollars 
in the shape of premiums on field crops, the best cul¬ 
tivated farms, &.C.; but finding this course too fre¬ 
quently attended with unsatisfactory results, from the 
fact that premiums were often sought after merely 
from the consideration of dollars and cents, rather than 
a spirit of enterprise in agricultural improvements— 
thereby giving rise, it is feared in too many cases, to 
the practice of deception—the trustees resolved to try 
a new and different appropriation of their funds. 
They accordingly employed a competent agent in 
Scotland to purchase four cows and a bull each, of the 
Ayrshire and North-Devon breeds, the progeny of 
which are to be distributed among the several County 
Agricultural Societies, fr^pe of charge, on condition 
that they shall be kept in the county for the improve¬ 
ment of its stock. The oldest Society is entitled to 
the first choice of a bull and heifer of the offspring, 
and then the next oldest, and so on. These young ani¬ 
mals are not allowed to go from under the care and 
supervision of the State Society, until they are of suit¬ 
able age to be put to service. 
The trustees are of opinion that for dairy purposes, 
there is no stock so well adapted to the soil and climate 
of Massachusetts, as the Ayrshire and crosses of them 
upon the common stock of the Commonwealth. Mr. 
Phinney says :—“ From what I have seen and known 
of this and other imported breeds of cows, I am satis¬ 
fied that as a dairy stock for New England, there is no 
breed in this or any other country so valuable as the 
Ayrshire. They are quite as hardy, and endure our 
cold weather as well as our native stock. They are of 
medium size, with enormous milk-vessels, and withal, 
a capacity for converting their food to milk much be¬ 
yond any breed that I have known.” 
From the specimens of Ayrshires that I had seen 
before visiting this farm, I had not formed so farvora- 
ble an opinion of the stock as Mr. Phinney expresses 
above; but I must confess that I was very agreeably 
surprised on viewing this herd. The cows are in every 
respect, fine models of what a dairy cow should be; 
their udders are very broad and reach far forward, with 
remarkably wide spread teats, and give every indica¬ 
tion of being deep milkers. I was particularly pleased 
with the cow “ Jennie Deans,” a perfect model for the 
dairy, and a perfect picture, which it would be difficult 
for an artist to Hatter. The celebrated cow “ Young 
Swinley,” purchased of Capt. Randall, of New Bed¬ 
ford, and whose dam “ Swinley” “ took more prizes 
than any cow in Scotland,” is also a fine animal. 
The North Devons wffll be great favorites with the 
farmers generally for their beautiful, deep, mahogany 
color, and fine silky coats, their hardiness of constitu¬ 
tion, fitness for the yoke, and tendency to fatten easily. 
I do not wish to forestall the judgment of those more 
particularly interested, by a comparison of the two 
breeds, and therefore will not institute any. 
It is truly fortunate that this stock has come under 
the care of one of so much skill and judgment, in the 
matter of their treatment. There is nothing like 
pampering or stimulating with grain at all allowed in 
feeding, a fact that I particularly noticed, being in and 
out of the barns frequently during my visit, but all the 
good hay they will eat up clean, and a generous mess 
of carrots, daily, is allowed to each animal. They 
are also kept perfectly clean; in fact cleanliness, and 
freedom from all waste of fodder, are the order of the 
day in every department at the barns. Regularity in 
feeding and milking is also strictly observed. 
The calves are learned to drink milk fresh from the 
cow by the time they are a week old at the farthest, 
