THE CULTIVATOR. 
87 
EXPERIMENT II. 
No. 2, mentioned above, weighed on 23d March,.... 253 lbs. 
« « « “ 30th April, .... 312 
In 38 days, gain,... 59 lbs. 
No. 3, a shoat purchased from a drove, weighed on 28th 
March, 100 lbs. 
on 30th April, 151 
Gain in 33 days,. 51 lbs. 
This is a fraction over 1 lb. 8 oz. per day each, nearly 1 lb. 9 oz. 
In this case their food was exclusively boiled potatoes mashed 
with Indian meal. Exact amount consumed not ascertained, but 
fed as freely as they would bear. 
EXPERIMENT III. 
The two last named hogs were for the next twenty days put upon 
Indian hasty pudding exclusively, with the following result: 
No. 2 weighed on 30th April,.. 312 lbs. 
« « 20th May, .. 382 
Gain in 20 days,. 70 
No. 3 weighed on 30th April,. 151 lbs. 
“ “ 20th May,. 185 
Gain in 20 days,. 34 
The two in the above named 20 days, consumed four and one- 
half bushels of meal cooked as above. Meal 78 cents per bushel. 
Gain of the two, 104 lbs. in 20 days. 
EXPERIMENT IV. 
Sundry swine purchased from a drove, and fed with meal and po¬ 
tatoes washed and mashed. 
28th March, 1831. 19th May, 1831. 
No. 1 weighed 97 lbs. 165, gain in 52 days, 68 lbs. 
2 “ 134 182, “ 48 
3 “ 100 186, “ 86 
The two following, raised on the farm, and fed as above— 
25th April, 1831. 19th May, 1831. 
No. 4 weighed 151 lbs. 206, gain in 24 days, 55 lbs 
5 “ 140 165, “ 25 
EXPERIMENT V. 
In this case it was not intended to force their thrift, but to keep 
the swine in an improving condition. They were shoats of the last 
autumn, and were of a good breed. 
Tuesday, 3d April, 1833. Put up four shoats, and began feeding 
them with Indian hasty pudding. 
3d April. 22d April. 25th June. 
No. 1, 176 lbs. 202 lbs. gain 25, 264 lbs. gain 62 
2, 119 153 “ 34, 226 “ 73 
3, 150 170 “ 20, 218 « 48 
[Total, 183 pounds. 
4, 121 145 “ 24, Killed 30th May. 
From 3d April to 22d April, the above swine consumed seven 
bushels and one peck of Indian meal. From 22d April to 25th June 
seven bushels of Indian meal cooked as above. 
One of the above, No. 4, was killed on 30th May; being absent, 
the live weight was not ascertained. 
On the 25th June, the three remaining hogs were weighed, and 
in the 63 days from 22d April to 25th June, they had gained in that 
time 183 pounds as above. 
After 30th May, when one of them was killed, one peck of meal 
made into hasty pudding with a small allowance of the waste of the 
kitchen for a part ot that time, lasted them three days, that is 22.25 
or less than a quart, say gths of a quart per day to each. 
0= At first we employed half a bushel of Indian meal to make a 
kettle of hasty pudding ; but we soon found that a peck of meal, by 
being boiled sufficiently, would make the same kettle nearly full of 
hasty pudding, and of sufficient consistency. The kettle was a 
common sized five pail kettle, set in brick work in the house; and 
it was remarkable that the peck of meal produced nearly the same 
quantity of pudding that we obtained from the half bushel, which 
showed the importance of inducing the meal to take up all the wa¬ 
ter it could be made to absorb. 
The price of Indian corn was at that time 75 cents per bushel- 
30 quarts of meal to a bushel, deducting the toll. The amount of 
meal consumed in the whole time, from 3d April to 25th June, was 
14J bushels—the cost $10.69—-the total gain, making no allowance 
for the gain of No. 4 from 22d April to 30th May, which was not 
ascertained, was 287 lbs. 
The gain of No. 1, 2 and 3, from 22d April to 25th June, was 183 
lbs. in 63 days; and al owing one peck to serve the three hogs for 
three days, required 5£ bushels, the cost of which was $3.94. The 
live weight could not be estimated at less than 4 cents per lb. when 
pork was at. market 6 cents. 
The value of the 183 lbs. therefore was equal to $7.32, or at 5 
cents, to $9.15. 
The gain of the swine for the first 19 days, from 3d to 22d April, 
was, 
No. 1, 26 lbs. or 1.368 per day. 
2, 34 “ 1.789 “ 
3, 20 “ 1.052 
4, 24 “ 1.263 
The gain from 22d April to 25th June. 63 days, was, 
No. 1, 62 lbs. or 0.984 per day. 
2, 73 “ 1.158 
3, 48 “ 0.761 
The difference of daily gain in the two periods was attributable to 
the diminished quantity of meal. The question then arises, whether 
the first mode of feeding was as economical as the second! 
In the first 19 days, 7 bushels 1 peck con’d gave 164 lbs. gain. 
“ next 63 “5 “1 “ “ 183 “ 
Had the first gain been in proportion to the second gain, in refe¬ 
rence to the meal consumed, the seven and one-fourth bushels which 
gave 104 pounds, should have given 252 5.7 pounds. This great 
disparity can be explained only in the more economical preparation 
of the meal, by which a peck, taking up as much water as it would 
contain, gave a kettle nearly full of pudding, when half a bushel of 
meal, imperfectly prepared, gave little more. This seems to demon¬ 
strate the great advantage of cooked food, both as it respects its in¬ 
crease of bulk and the improvement of its nutritive properties.—■ 
Whether it would apply to those substances, whose bulk is not in¬ 
creased by cooking, equally as to Indian meal and the like, is a mat¬ 
ter which experiments only can determine. 
Such are some few trials in reference to the feeding and fattening 
of swine, which I have made, or information of which I have obtain¬ 
ed from other sources, which may at least lead the inquisitive farmer 
to further experiments and inquiries, on a subject ot great impor¬ 
tance to his interest. The inferences to be made from them I shall 
leave to others. The results, as will be observed, are not uniform. 
The thrift of animals must depend on various other circumstances 
besides the kinds or the quantity of food given them. Much depends 
on the breed, as every farmer knows; much on the health of the 
animal; something on the season of the year. 1 failed in attempt¬ 
ing to fatten several swine in one case, though they were carefully 
attended, and various kinds of feed were tried, and the failure was 
totally inexplicable until they were slaughtered, when the intestines 
were found corroded with worms, resembling those found in the hu¬ 
man stomach, and this, I have no doubt, prevented their thrift. The 
same fact has occurred in another instance, and with the same re¬ 
sult. I failed in attempting to fatten some other swine, who had 
been driven a considerable distance and exposed, probably not even 
half fed on the road, to severe cold and storms. Some of them were 
frost bitten in their limbs; and though attended and fed in the most 
careful manner, they made no progress for months. In an experiment 
recently made, of giving swine raw meal mixed with water, I have 
found a falling off in their gain of nearly one-half, compared with 
giving their food cooked, such as boiled potatoes and carrots, mixed 
with meal while hot; the result being, in a stye containing a num¬ 
ber of swine, as 279 to 500. In respect to confinement or°freedom, 
various opinions are entertained. “Elder Turner, of New-York,' 
says, that hogs should never know what liberty is, but should be 
kept close all their lives, and as inactive as possible. That by this 
method double the quantity of pork can be produced with the same 
expense of feed.”* F. Peabody, Esq. informed me that the Sha¬ 
kers at Canterbury, N. H. told him that they deemed it indispensa¬ 
ble to the thriving of their swine that they should have access to 
water to wallow or wash themselves in; and that they by no means 
did so well without it. On this point I have had no trial farther 
than to satisfy myself, that fatting hogs are injured by being suf¬ 
fered to root in the earth. 
With respect to the age at which it is advantageous to put up 
swine to fatten, I have only to remark, that it is with swine as with 
’ N. Y. Memoirs of Agri. Vol. 2, p. 50. 
