The independent press. (Abbeville C.H., S.C.) 1853-1860, 1856-02-15
Farmers, Raise yoar own Hogs.


The wrrtched policy pursued at tho
South. almost from the time whereof :'thv
memory ct 'Dan runneth NC. to the contra
-Fy,' Of rais'ug cotton, to buy hogs, horses
and mules with. to the neglect of other im-
porant productions Of the farm, has been
often commented upon, and as often con-
dcmnca by the agricultural and newspaper
press. and Yet, despite all, the wre,chcd
policy Is still pursued. The high prices At
which hogs, horses and mules from the
West are frequently sold, cne would i'm
press upon the minds Of our farmers and
planters rs with The diamond point, the ;r,-
portance Of a radical change in their svs-
TEN OF farming. Yet they go or in the old
beaten path, needless Of the impressive les
sons Of experience. For years they have
submitted to the degrading position Of
--hrwers of wood and drawers Of water" to
the Western States, and, although told,
with line upon line and rreccpt upon pre-
|Ircpt," of their dependence, vet they seem
insrnsible to their slavisl, condition, and
make no effort to improve it. They occu-
!lpy towards the stock-raisers Of tho West,
the miserable relation of tributaries. For
N'hcm do they consciously toll To fill their
pockets they impoverish their lands, exhaust
their own energies and the strength Of their
'slaves, and live hard, feeding almost solely
upon the bread and meat furnished them bv
tlieir inexorabe task masters, and denying
themselves the cheap Injuries Of the dairy
and garden. Scarce fruit tree, WORTHY Of
the name, adorns their homcsteads; only
a few NANCY runts Of hogs to be seen about
their premises, almost too poor TO drag
themselves from the fence corner 10 feed up
on the scant grass which nature has kindly
provided for them. And suci, COWS as may
be seen stalking" about the farm Of a co!t!
winters day, it We're impossible to describe,
whose every motion ia ntently watched BY
the bazzar'ls, in momentary expectation
that they will drop down and die and fur
nish them scant meal. And such insipd
milk as these poor kline yield with their
life cannot with any proprie,y be called
milk. The little ball of butter that NAV
be extracted from it by dint of bard, pcrse-
vering churning, is as white at,ainsipid rs
tho milk itself. And who Of the Young
folks have ever seen homemade cheese |?
We have been "man and boy" for thirty
nj years, and have never seen one. But
we are wandering.
For the encouragement of the farmers
TO ut least raise their own meat, we have
been kindly furnished by Mr. Henry Bur
ton. an excellent neighhor and most success
ful planter in this District, with list con-
tanning the weights of number Of hogs
killed by him last winter. From this. we
CLEAN the following particulars:
. Mr.. Burton killed twenty-five hogs two
years old, the average weight of which
was nearly 25l lbs. The heaviest of this
lot weighed 4s4 lbs. He also killed one
fourteen months old which weighed $40
lbs. Fifteen of one year old averaged III
l-s lbs, the heaviest weighing 2l2 lbs.-
Some Of our readers will recollect the mon
str"us hog Mr.. Burton exhibited at the last
Agricultural Fair at this place. Having
prepared him properly and fatencd him as
well rs an overaowing corn crib would ena-
bic him, he killed him the 23d of last
month, and he weighed 100 lbs. gross, nett
7Ol lbs. We have forgotten his age; if
we mistake not, he was three years old
The whole number of hogs killed by Mr..
Burton of his own raising was II, averag-
ing 282 IA lbs. Il head. Now, is not Mr..
Burtons success encouraging to Others to
following his cxamp!e2 He made large
cotton crop, too, plenty of corn Of course,
and an abundance of everything else that
can be'raised on farm. :. ,,~
NeaOberry lHirror.