110 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
the pens. The floor is laid with sufficient slope to car¬ 
ry water off from all parts of it, through an opening un¬ 
der the stairs, made for that purpose. In butchering, I 
drive my hogs into the upper pen, take out one of the 
studs which are back of the trough, and is let into a 
groove above, for the convenience of being taken out 
when necessary; raise the door that shuts over the 
trough, and draw out the hogs for dressing. Over this 
room there is a store room 14 by 18 feet, for ground 
feed, &c., and is convenient for a loom, 8tc. Corn can be 
shoveled directly from the wagon into this room, through 
the upper door, for sorting, &c. In the north part, are 
two pens, the lower one 14 by 18, and the upper one 13 
by 18 feet; above the pens I have a corn granary with 
a door communicating with the store-room—the posts of 
the south part are 13 feet, north part 11 feet, each part 
has a double roof. The pens are parted in the middle 
by a swing partition, hung with hinges at the top, and 
when required, can be swung up and fastened by a 
hook to the timbers above. My ground descends from 
the dwelling-house and well, north to the piggery, and I 
have a conductor from the well through the window of 
the piggery. I contemplate making a conductor from 
my kitchen to the piggery, under gi’ound, for the pas¬ 
sage of milk, &c., and a cellar could be constructed un¬ 
der the south part of the piggery, for storing roots, &c., 
also yards on the west side, with a bridge to correspond 
with the yard on the east side. The studs back of the 
trough, are 12 inches apart in the clear, which gives 
room for 30 hogs to feed at once. From what experi¬ 
ence I have had in feeding swine, I conceive this to be 
about such a piggery as all farmers ought to have, be¬ 
ing large enough to accommodate most, without being 
too large for the general class of farmers. I took from 
my piggery in February last, nine loads of manure, 
which I estimate at half the yearly interest on the cost 
of the buildings. Another fall, I intend to put all my 
manure in a pile at the north end of my piggery, and 
add to the quantity, by mixing in straw with it. The 
building, sided and painted, cost, say $110. 
a, a , a, a, (fig. 67.) ground plan, b, open space 8 inch¬ 
es wide, to feed hogs in lower pen. c, trough in upper 
pen. d, d , studs 2 by 4 inches edgeways to the trough, 
to separate the hogs when feeding—same in lower pen. 
e, sleeping room—same in lower pen. f, partition 
swung up and hooked to timbers above—same in lower 
pen. g, furnace or arch with two cauldron kettles, 
with a box (large enough to cover the top of the kettles) 
in the form of half of an eighth square—the end next 
the stem of the chimney to be raised two feet above the 
kettles, and fastened by two hinges—the other end rests 
on the stone work, and has a cord attached, passing 
through a pulley above, to raise the box when required. 
This box conducts the steam to an opening 3 by 6 inches 
made for the purpose in the chimney, when the draught 
of the chimney carries it off. h , tub, size of a half hogs¬ 
head, serves as a reservoir from the well, the bottom of 
the tub higher than top of kettles, with a spout leading 
to them, i, vat 4 by 6 feet by 3J feet deep, made of 
plank, the top even with the floor, with a trap door to shut 
tightforkeepingfoodin winter—the underground conduc¬ 
tor before spoken of, can open into this vat. j, stairs. 
k, k, two open yards 14 by 15 feet. I, bridge with rails 
on each side, to lead from the east yard to the upper 
pen. to, 77i, 77i, 7?7, doors communicating with the yards. 
Fig. 68 —South end.—a, a, two doors— b, b, two win- 
dows, 12 lights 7 by 9—c, south half of roof. 
Fig. 69—East side with the siding off the north part, 
and view of the ground plan of the corn floors. A, stone 
wall 4 feet high, 18 inches thick, running across the 
building. B, B, two 12 light windows, 7 by 9. C, G, 
end view of two feeding troughs, one in the upper, and 
one in the lower pen, the upper one having doors hung 
over it, with hinges at top to swing back when putting 
in food. D, D, two doors 2 by 3 feet, for passage of 
pigs to and from yards, hung with hinges at top to keep 
out fowls, &c. E ; E, floors of each pen of 2 ingh plank, 
perfectly tight, with slope of 4 inches from the trough— 
the upper floor projects 2 inches beyond the building on 
the north end, with an opening 4 inches wide the whole 
length of each floor, for cleaning pens and draining off 
water. F, floor for corn, with an alley through the mid¬ 
dle 4 feet wide, floor laid tight with a board on each side 
one foot wide, for shelling corn—on each side of the al¬ 
ley, loose floor with slats— 2% feet above this, and even 
with the plates, another floor of slats for corn. G, con¬ 
ductor running from the alley F, through the upper pen 
into the lower one, having a valve near the top by turn¬ 
ing which, food can be conveyed to either pen. H, H, 
rafters. I, plate. Yours respectfully, 
ELI C. FROST. 
Catharine, Chemung Co. March 30, 1840. 
Meetings of the State Agricultural Society. 
Messrs. Editors —I wish through the columns of the 
Cultivator, to suggest to the State Agricultural Society, 
the propriety of changing the time of its meeting, from 
the first Tuesday in February, to the first Tuesday of 
September, and let the present one be held in Albany, 
that of’41 in Buffalo, of ’42 in Utica, of ’43 in Roches¬ 
ter, and then again commence in Albany. The great 
benefit of these proposed changes, cannot but be obvi¬ 
ous. As now held, in the most inclement season of the 
year, and always at a place far from central, but few 
only attend, and it has ever been characterized, as a 
cold, dull, uninteresting meeting, and it has become 
the pretty general opinion, I believe, among the mem¬ 
bers, unless something can be done to arouse public at¬ 
tention toward it, the Society must soon cease to exist. 
I am perfectly satisfied for one, that this cannot be done 
as at present assembled, for nobody travels for pleasure 
in the winter season, and all with whom I have ever con¬ 
versed upon the subject, are just of my opinion, that they 
had much rather read the able reports and proceedings 
from the pages of the Cultivator, at their own warm fire¬ 
sides, than travel 50 to 300 miles, as the case may be, 
to hear them read by their authors. 
The beginning of September, is the most delightful 
part of the year, the season of both fruits and flowers, 
and when all traveling communications are open, the 
roads most perfect, and the country most beautiful, and 
being at the close of the summer, and ere the fall har¬ 
vest has commenced, is perhaps upon the whole, the 
most convenient time for the farmer to leave home, and 
is that period he most generally selects to make his 
pleasure journeys. He could then take his wife and 
daughters along with him, and how much these would 
contribute to the interest of the meetings, would be very 
needless for me to add. Bright eyes and blooming fa¬ 
ces, would be a stimulus for speakers to acquit them¬ 
selves with the more grace and spirit. Then beneath 
some shady grove, what a glorious dinner could be got 
up it might be made a real/efe champetre, or in plainer 
English, a regular pic-nic, or if you please, a Kentucky 
barbecue. 
There would be the ladies, with fresh fruits and flow¬ 
ers, (themselves the fairest,) and cakes, pastries, butter 
and cream—the gentlemen with Durham, Devon, and 
Hereford beef; Lincoln, Leicester,Cotswold, and South 
Down mutton; Chinese, Berkshire, and Neapolitan 
hams—curious potatoes, parsnips, beets, ruta baga, 
cabbage, and carrots, wheat, Indian, rye, and barley 
bread, a few barrels of hard cider, and more of home 
brewed beer, besprinkled with a fair bottling of rasp¬ 
berry and currant wine. What a delightful union would 
this not be, and what an opportunity for interchange 
and correction of opinions, and promoting the cause of 
Agriculture. The advocates of improved meats, grains, 
and vegetables, would not be obliged to confine them¬ 
selves as now, to long written arguments elucidating the 
superiority of their several productions, but could address 
them directly to the tastes and eye— seeing, and above 
all, eating, is believing. I am sure that such meetings 
as these would soon interest the whole state, and be 
looked forward to with more pleasure and interest, than 
any thing that could be got up, and no one, whatever 
might be his profession, but could attend it with satis¬ 
faction and profit. This might be succeeded the next 
day with a show of animals, vegetable productions, and 
domestic manufactures, and lastly perhaps, by extensive 
sales of stock and fabrics. Indeed, there is no counting 
the good that might be done, and the aid and stimulus 
that might be given to agriculture, by such an annual 
assemblage. 
The reason why I would prefer alternating the meet¬ 
ings at different places, would be, to thereby engage a 
greater number to come to them, and give a more general 
diffusion of knowledge and interest throughout the state. 
Many would attend at Buffalo, that never would at Al¬ 
bany, and so vice versa, besides each place presents dif¬ 
ferent natural attractions, that many of us journey an¬ 
nually expressly to see. At and near Albany is the glo¬ 
rious Hudson, the Cohoes and Saratoga Springs. At 
Utica, are the Trenton Falls, which for wild variety and 
picturesque beauty, are inferior to none others in the 
world. At Rochester, is the Genesee, and at Buffalo 
expansive lakes, and that wonder of the world, Niagara. 
Who will then not vote for a change in the time of the 
meetings of the New-York State Agricultural Society? 
It seems to me, really the only way to give a general in¬ 
terest to its proceedings, and call out the attendance 
that our transatlantic brethren have been so success¬ 
ful in obtaining, when forming similar societies. 
I have never heard any other argument for the meet¬ 
ing of the Society at the time it now does, than a hope 
that its proceedings might have some influence over the 
Legislature. But here it has gone on year after year, 
and what has been done ? Just nothing. The Legisla¬ 
ture will be what the people please to make it, and the 
farmers themselves must be interested, nay demand aid 
before it will ever be granted them by any Legislature 
whatever. New-York might take precedence in agri¬ 
culture, as she has in commerce, and in so doing add 
largely to the latter, it being but the attending hand¬ 
maid of the former, and with all this, greatly extend her 
domestic manufactures, thus increasing vastly, her 
wealth, population, and general resources. 
I hope to see this subject discussed, and if the Presi¬ 
dent has not already the power of calling such a meet¬ 
ing, let the members assemble forthwith, and give it to 
him. It is needless to say, that we already have an an¬ 
nual fair at New-York : this is more a national, than a 
state assemblage, and is too far off for the great mass 
of farmers to attend, especially with their families. 
AGRICOLA PUBLICOLA. 
Buffalo, June 9, 1840. 
BERKSHIRE PIGS. 
I have just read Mr. Lossing’s article upon Berkshire 
pigs, and would object to the description given of Mr. 
Hawes’ and his own importation of them. He quotes 
Mr. Hawes, as saying, “ that he never knew a full blood 
to have less than three white feet, some white in the face 
or end of the nose, and occasionally some white hairs in¬ 
terspersed over the whole surface, the end of the tail inva¬ 
riably white.” First, I object to the description as being 
too particular about white feet and white tail, and next, I 
object to it on account of pigs sold by Mr. Lossing, and 
his friends a bout Albany, not answering to his description. 
I purchased eight pigs in and near Albany, last spring, 
and three of them have no white on the ends of their 
tails. The pigs without white tails I believe to be a 9 
good and as genuine as those with it. All the above 
pigs were recommended to me by Mr. Lossing, and one 
lacking white on its tail, out of his Teal sow by one of 
his imported boars, was sold to me by Mr. Lossing him¬ 
self. 
I will now prove that the Berkshire hog, was a red 
or tawny hog, with brown or black spots. 
In the 6th edition of the Complete Grazier, publish¬ 
ed in London, in 1833, page 294, speaking of the Berk¬ 
shire breed, it says, “ the specific characters of which 
are a reddish color with brown or black spots; sides 
very broad; body thick, close, and well formed; short 
legs ; the head well placed, and the ears large, and ge¬ 
nerally standing forward; but sometimes pendant over 
the eyes. Another distinctive mark of this breed is, 
that the best are without bristles; their hair long and 
curly.” The British Husbandry, (a standard English 
work,) agrees with the Complete Grazier, in assigning 
the same color, so does Loudon’s Encyclopedia of 1831. 
I hope the above is sufficient proof that the Berkshire 
was a red hog with brown or black spots. Now as 
the original Berkshire (the genuine article,) was red 
and black, I shall endeavor to show how they came by 
their present colors. But before going any farther, I would 
state, that the eastern hog was resorted to to change a 
coarse, heavy eared, curly haired, great consumer, into a 
fine boned, thin haired, thrifty animal. With this expla¬ 
nation, I. shall proceed to the China hog. “ Of these 
there are two nearly distinct kinds; the white and the 
black.” “The Chinese hog is of the widely extended 
Siamese breed of the east, a race which extends from 
the continent to the island of Sumatra, New-Guinea and 
others, and to all the islands of the South Seas.” 
We are told in Low’s Elements of Agriculture (an 
English work,) that “ The Berkshire was the earliest 
of the improved breeds of England, and is now the 
most generally diffused of all others. It was undoubted¬ 
ly formed by a mixture of the eastern hog with the an¬ 
cient swine of the country.” “ The modern Berkshire, 
however, is of a less size than the older breed ; but 
still the animals are of the larger class of swine. 
Their common color is a reddish brown with dark spots. 
Many of the breed are nearly black, manifesting their 
near approach to the Siamese character, and sometimes 
