The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1837-10-10
PORK MAKING.

The season for iattening swine is at hand
but is it profitable business or not? The an
swer must depend upona great many clrcum'
Stances such rs the facilities for procuring food
and the convenience Of preparing it--cost of Ia
bour and price of the articles in the market-as
also the propensity of the breed to lay on far.
Our friend, Paine Wingate, we hope, is at the
business again, with his apple sauce and oat meal,
carefully noting the expenditure and the increase.
lie has Il large orchard, and the apples come to
him cheaper than they would to person who
has to purchase pig and the materials tor fat
tening him, make it more profitable than to pur-
chase in the market at cents per pound? If he
is careful and saving man, he probably can DO
| it, A writer in the number of the Cultivator for
May, 1885, makes the following statements He
purchased two pigs Dec. 23d, 1834-gave tor
them $650-they weighed 3l6 lbs. and were 8
months old. They were put in n warm pen,and
fed regularly with six quarts per day. Gn 3 feeds)
of rye or corn meal until October.
The feed was then increased to nine quarts
per day, until the 9TH of December, when they
were killed. being about twenty months old, and
weighing 1888. They were fed on grain $40
days, and drank the refuse milk oft cows,and
few weeds fl ON the garden. He goes on to
state that if we allow one third offal in dressing,
they gained in live weight fraction under three
lbs. and half per day, and cost each day about
ten cents.
They ate ffty-ive bushels of corn and rye; the
grain was ground fine, and the toll taken out; in
cold weather it was scalded and fed warm, in
warm weather it was fed dry; and milk poured
on it in the trough-none was ever made into a
swill and fermented.
The grain cost GO 1-2 cts. per bushed-$34 81
value of pork 81 per hundred-79 66-de-
Quoting first cost and grain, leaves balance in
favor of the producer of 1928.
This is pretty fair profit; but let us review the
process and vary it to suit our latitude, and see
whether there be gain or loss. In the first place
he purchased the shoats much cheaper than it
can be done with u.s. We should be doing pref
ty well to get them for twice that sum, say 3d.
90. The regularity and precision with which
they were fed, and the warmth Of their pens,
kept them quiet, and disposed to tatten-these
things cost no more in our region than in New
York, and should be practced much more than
they are In the next place, we should do well
to get corn or rye meal at dollar a bushel, in
stead of 60 1-2 cents This would amount to
$500, and the probability is that So per nun
bred, would be all that could be obtained for
them at time when corn is dollar q bushel.
The expense then would be $4,000, and the sales
1858 28-nlaking % cts. against them. But
not pork be made equally as good with cheaper
materials? We answer, yes Apples, potatoes,
oats and pea meal, barley meal &c. will make
it. Barley meal is thought to be equally as good
as rye or corn. At 67 cents, SIS bushels will a.
mount to 1865, instead of $500, and conse-
quenty reduce the expense of feeding $1S,15,
which of course would give nearly that profit.
allowing that they come up to the same weight.
From the above calculation, it follows that pork
making is not a lucrative business: but may be
made moderately prolific to those who have
plenty of cheap but nutritious food for hogs, and
take suitable care of them. We have this to
comfort us, that the pork we do make, is genuine
pork, and not the flabby, oily stuff which is
brought from the forests of the far west, and &C
tually worth one half more in the economy of a
family.