Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1866-01-10

wsaltb. q 1870 thess were enrolled BY tee
census tiers 32,Jr,sll swine, whose
average vS1ue could nos have BEN lcee than
Al, 100 casA. The West,es ~ Easternets
call the geographical middle o. our country,
surpasscs other sections in numbers OF this
race. Chicago and Cincinnati are two
great centers Of pork squca'ing and packing
on the continent In 1868 l22,S25 fat and
store hogs arrived in Chicago IN single
day, and 910.264 were packed there the
same year. ST. Louis, Louisville, Terrc
Hautc and Dubuque arc other large pack
ing cities. In New England, for various
reasons, tho hog population has decreased
for tho two hast decades. In 1910 there
we're 74s, 69S hogs in the six eastern states;
in 1850, 36l ,49l in 1860, 322, 697. Whlie.I
the West continues TO be tbe granary OF
the world, pork must principally ceme
thence, but New England reserves the
right here, as Elsewhere, to be the first in
excellence. No better hogs are found, agc
and size regarded, than 10 New England.
Nowhere else have the weights Is rapidly
increased with the decrease Of days. In
stead of keeping hog three years TO make
him weigh as many hundred pounds as is
sometimes the case, let the following facts
show the progress:
Rodney Parsons, OF West Springfield,
purchased, in May last, two sucking grade
Suffolk pigs whose united weight was 56
pounds They were fed on milk, bran and
-lops from the house through the summer,
but la,terly on corn and rye meal When
butchcred, on the 10Th, at nine inopths old,
their dressed weights were, respectively,
3l2 and 1853 pounds. Burdett LOOMS, OF
Windsor Locks, Ct, a noted short horn
and Cotswod breeder and prize takcr,
writes thus Of his success with swine, OF
which he only raises litter spring and fall
for h,s own and ncighbors' us.: dressed
We ght Of five pure Chcsters, all OF one litter
and my raising, ut eight aud a half months
old, three Of which were fattened by me aud
two by Camara,za Hathaway 406. 4O3,
4s2. All, i02 pounds. The meal on which
thee were fa,tened was mostly cooked. y
The youth size and uniformity ofthis fam
ily are alike remarkable.
We might cite other cases OF a similar
nature, both among the living and the
dead. but what need? In "a good corn
wear hogs are always well fattened. Yam
kee ingenuity cannot yet eliminate in
this direction. There are other steps Of
progress to be made, and greater discov-
cries. both in feeding aud fattening.-
Hitherto the mass OF farm experiments
have been made hastily, carelessly and
loosely. Hereafter they will be more ac-
curatc, methodical and reliable. In the
meantime facts must be sliced upon wher-
ever found. Mr.. Lawcs, Of KothaInstcd,
England, gentleman Of large leisure, for
tune and experience, made three series OF
experiments in zig feeding few years ago,
that are entitled to much consideration. In
both the st aud I'd series, 80 pigs from Q
to 10 months old, and weighing about $40
lbs. each, were divided equally into l2 pens,
weighed once fortnight for eight weeks,
and fed with different food. Bran, beans,
or peas, corn, barley and boiled goldfish were
used separately aud together, both in limit
ed aud unlimited quantities, ard the gains
of each carefully noted. The result was
that bran was found very poor f,od, that
a variety of food was found more fattcning
and profitable than any kind alone, that In
dian meal was found the most fattening in
proportion to its weight, that barley meal
led without limit produced more flesh than
Indian meal, that 565 pounds Of barley meal
and 49l pounds of Indian meal were equiv
olcnt in increasing the weight of the animals
100 pounds, and that AS ANIMALS fattcn they
| consume less food and increase less. a bush
| cl of corn made no more pork on lat hcg
| than lean one. The lean hogs eat more
and grow mere, the fat ones cat less aud
grow less. Mr. Harris, Of he GencSce
| Flrmer, who youches for the above and is
personally acquainted with the parties,
/ c,A pT hell Z oS
that the most profitable method Of fatten-
ing hogs will be to give them peas at frs,
| with little corn, and as they fatten gradu-
ally reduce the peas and increase the corn
until the last few weeks Of life, when In
dian meal alone should be given. He rea
sons that peas are heterogeneous and there
fore adapted to growth, while corn is car
bonaccous and simply accumulates fat. In
England usually peas are given a few weeks
before killing, in order to harden the
pork.
A few items Of history will conclude thi.
article. The hog belongs to the same &c
nus as the elephant, hippopotamus and
rhinoceros, has similar habits Of travel
torpor and gluitony, and is a native Of ASA
Its natural life is from fifteen 10 thirty
years, and its period Of growth from four t.
five years Hogs multiply rapidly, breed
carly and easily, and can produce two lit
ters six to twelve each year. They have
become universal except in the highest la,i
tudes, but have undergone great changes
BY dome,ticatcn. One can hardly trace
the quaint, defiant, ferOcious wild boar in
the quiet Sul!e.h, the rotund Berkshire,
the portly Chester and the obese Ess. a.
The flesh of The heg i, substantial, nutri
tious, and Agreeable 10 persons in hard la
Dor, but an sbomirntion 10 rcrrons OF deli
cate stonacis, especially IL they live If
hot climaies. No meat has q greater aiiin-
tv for salt than pork. \ good hog i. :
mighty nice thing in his place, but save Us
from those that frequent human walks and
take social positions.
George Francis Train ON tho
| ~ hnN r. .DnsnYNIa /.