326 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Oct, 
practiced. It imparts a uniformity to the appearance 
and quality of the cheese, throughout a large district of 
country, that no other plan could have so thoroughly 
accomplished • and on the whole, the system may with 
safety be adopted in any part of the union suitable to the 
production of cheese, where an abundant supply of curd 
can be obtained at a fair price. 
Hog Slaughtering Establishments. —The farmers 
in the eastern states can form no idea of the extent of 
the pork trade of the west, unless they personally in¬ 
spect the slaughtering establishments that are to be found 
in Cincinnati, and other large cities. 20,000 are very 
commonly slaughtered and packed for market in a single 
season, by one house; and the whole number slaughter¬ 
ed in these establishments annually, west of the Allegha¬ 
ny mountains, average 2,000,000, weighing each 200lbs. 
of net pork, of which at least one-fourth are slaughter¬ 
ed in Ohio. The number packed at Cincinnati alone, 
equal 400,000 head in a single season. During the month 
of December, the latter city is crowded almost sufficient 
to produce suffocation, with droves of hogs, and dray¬ 
men employed in delivering the barrelled pork on board 
of steamers. Some 1,500 laborers are employed in the 
business from six to eight weeks, and in many cases it is 
kept in full operation both day and night, including Sun¬ 
days, from the beginning to the completion of the sea¬ 
son. The Sabbath is not at all regarded by those who 
are extensively engaged in the pork business, and a 
stranger spectacle could hardly be presented to a person 
brought up in a land noted for its steady habits, than to 
see many of the main business streets of the Queen City 
of the "West, literally crammed with waggons, carts and 
drays, employed in transporting hogs just from the hands 
of the butcher, from the slaughtering to the packing 
house, on the Sabbath. Indeed, this appears to be the 
great day for bringing up and completing the weeks’ 
work, among the principal pork packers of Cincinnati; 
and as a very large proportion of the business is done in 
a densely populated portion of the city, it is not to be 
wondered at, that disease and pestilence infest these por¬ 
tions of the city to an alarming extent. The filth and 
dirt, and impure atmosphere, in a large portion of the 
upper end of the city, can be better imagined than de¬ 
scribed, all of which are the products of hog slaughter¬ 
ing and packing establishments. 
The lowest price that the Ohio farmer can afford to 
raise and fatten pork, is $3.50 per 100 lbs. This, in an 
average of seasons, is obtained, and the past season, as 
high as $4.50 per 100 lbs. was paid for a large propor¬ 
tion of the best fattened hogs that found their way into 
market. If there was any certainty of hogs maintain¬ 
ing those prices, Ohio, without much effort, could sup¬ 
ply annually one million that would net each a barrel of 
pork, which, with the lard, would give an annual reve¬ 
nue to the state of $10,000,000. At present, great pre¬ 
parations are being made to feed an unusual quantity the 
approaching season, and the average price throughout 
the entire summer, for store hogs, has been $3.50 per 
100 lbs. net. The most extensive pork feeders fatten on 
standing corn, and as slovenly as it may appear, it is the 
most economical mode that can be employed in the west, 
where labor is scarce, and the productions of the soil are 
almost spontaneous. 
Horses. —The stock of horses throughout the state 
are not quite equal to what may be seen in the best farm¬ 
ing districts of New-York. This may be accounted for 
in two ways—1st, from the fact that but few or no high 
priced stallions are supported in the state; and 2ndly, 
the best mares are bought up and driven east, by specu¬ 
lators. The horses are generally of a medium grade 
and when compared with those commonly seen on the 
Mohawk valley, would fall in the estimation of good 
judges, even below mediocrity. The great demand for 
horses, and the high prices they have brought this and 
the past season, will speedily bring about a salutary 
change in this respect. Ohio should stand first on the 
list among the states, as a producer of fine bred, and 
high priced horses, and through the agency of its nu¬ 
merous well conducted agricultural societies, doubtless, 
great changes in this respect will be effected. 
As an evidence of the suitableness of the country for 
the business of rearing horses, one fact will be sufficient 
to illustrate the point. A respectable and wealthy farm¬ 
er in Pickaway county, confines his operations almost 
exclusively to grazing horses and breaking them in for 
the eastern markets. Directly behind his stately man¬ 
sion he has a field containing 1200 acres, which he calls 
his horse pasture. It was originally scrub oak plains 
and prairie, and a living stream of water passes through 
its entire length—clumps of trees are here and there 
left for the purpose of shade, and the whole has been 
from the first kept in permanent pasture, consisting 
principally of natural grasses and herds grass, or red- 
top. 
The stock of horses are bought of the farmers in 
the surrounding country at the age of three and four 
years old, principally unbroken, and are delivered to 
the purchaser in the month of November. They are 
turned into pasture, and are wintered on the grass that 
is allowed to grow unmolested during the entire months 
■'of August, September, and October, which in favorable 
seasons attains the height of six inches. The snow 
scarcely ever falls so deep, but that the stock can paw 
it away with their feet and get sufficient to keep them 
in high condition. In the spring they are invariably in 
better condition than in autumn, and early in the month 
of June, men are employed to break them and sleek 
them up to drive east. The field is entirely cleared in 
July, and from that period up to the setting in of winter, 
no stock of any kind are allowed to roam over the field 
in question. It need hardly be added that the proprietor 
of the estate adverted to is accumulating property very 
fast, and we learned from one of his sons while inspec¬ 
ting the stock, that in an average of seasons each horse 
netted a profit of fifteen dollars, and besides the and 
which was naturally a thin soil, was yearly growing more 
productive and valuable. 
The remarks on the agriculture of Ohio might have 
been greatly extended, but for the present, as has al¬ 
ready been intimated, they must be brought to a close. 
On future occasions, however, we may have reason to 
make favorable mention of this state, which in point of 
natural advantages for rural pursuits has scarcely a su¬ 
perior either in America or Europe. Its natural re¬ 
sources are almost boundless, but man has yet much to 
do in their development. 
