Democrat and sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1853-1866, 1860-09-12
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From TIE Aser:enn Agrtcsatnris..
Hints ON Fattening Pork.

II
1t is usual With many farmers to put this
of Until cold weather sets in. The pigs run
in the woods. the road, or the pasture, pick
ing up scanty living. and come to the pens
lean aud hungry. when they ought to be fat
tened In our practice We keep pigs IN the
sty the year round. We fhd them quite too
valuable co-iaborers ia the manufacture OF
manure to allow them to waste ''their sweet
ness upon the desert air." A pig is worth
ten dollars year for this purpose alone, II
you viii give him the material to work with
and plenty of food. But possibly it may pay
for little while in the summer, to keep the
SOW and pigs in good clover pasture, wiere
grass is more plenty than corn upon the farm.
IF this be done. all of them intended for the
butcher by Christmas. should be pnt up
Immediately and fed with all they can eat
A squealirg pig is worse for the owners pock-
ct than for his ears. 1t is much easier to make
pork ir September and October than IN De-
cember and January. No extra amount OF
food is wasted in keeping up the animal heat
It all goes to fat and muscle. Variety ct
food is a matter of much importance IL fat
teuing swine, At this season greater va
riety is easily commanded. The garden, II 1t
is good one yields great many refuse ar
ticles, squashes, 5eets, carrots, apples, melons,
tomatoes, and corn, which will find a good
market in the sty. One of the best articles
for them is sweet corn, cut up by the roots
and fed whole. They are very fond of 1t,
and it makes them thrive very fast. A half
acre near the sty may be proftably cultivated
every year expressly for this purpose. If this
be not on hand, corn from the field may be
fed in the same way once day. But swine
need something more than green stuff, how
ever nutritious, to make them fatten rapidly
The cooking of food is much more econom-
ical than is generally supposed, especially
upon the farm, where fuel costs little but the
labor of preparing it. We think about one
third of the value of all the grains usually
fed to swine, is saved by cooking. A boiler
or box for steaming is indispensable in well
arranged swill house. In this the meal may
be cooked and thoroughly mixed with the
roots and other vegetables. The meal ab-
serbs large quantities of water, is more high,
ly relishcd by the pigs and is more perfectly
digested. Numerous experiments fully prove
the economy of cooking the food under or
dinary circumstances Some claim that they
can make pork for less than three cents
pound in this way. a dairy farmer 10 thi
State made one year 4 .227 pounds of pork
The feed with which he did it, was 4;12I
pounds Of corn and oat meal at 81 80
hundred, $40 shorts at rs cents, 147 busk
els of potatoes at 16 cents, and half an acr
of green peas worth say SIS; making tn
total cot of feed S1O3, ,95, or not quite tw
and half cents per pound for the pork
The value Of the whey and sour milk wa
not reckoned. This and the labor of feedin
with the fuel for cooking, are very properl
balanced against the manure they mad. Their
can be no doubt that cooking the food Pay
well.
a dry warm place for sleeping is anothe
important item in keeping swine thrifty. The
have good sty with roof and board floor
and plenty of straw SO that. they can kee
themselves clean. With these conditions por
can be made very fast, and the sty will b
found to pay as well as any part of the far1
arrangements.