, 1886-08-17
The PRODUCTION OF eRIsrLss.


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interesting Statistics Concerning the
rrade-TheG German and Russian Hog.
While the American hog a produce
more and better meat than the pauper
labor hogs OF Europe, he a not COM
pete with the latter animal in the pro-
duction OF bristles. The American hog
is grown for his meat md Is confined in
a pen and scientifically fatted up. A
long course Of breeding for this purpose
has caused the American hog to grow
fat mainly and to neglect the growth OF
bristles. The European hog, on the con-
trary. or more particularly the German
and Russian hog, is no confined in . pen
and fed for fatness, but either roams
round through the streets Of the villages,
seeking what he can devour, or in large
droves through the fields and forests,
feeding OF nuts and roots under the care
of swineherds. The German, Polish. and
Russian hog has thus plenty Of exercise
and Is thin and muscular. These hogs
are almost entirely without fat and are
not killed when young as here. Their
bristles grow long. stiff and elastic, and
Of good color. The American bristles
are soft, have a tendency to become
kinky, and very few are over four inches
in length, and rs per cent. are not over
two and three-quarters inches. Eighty
FIVE per cent OF them are gray. the most
undesirable color, the other Is per cent.
being white. German and Russian
bristlcs run from four to seven inches in
length, and some Of the latter run up to
fourteen inches.
The largest bristles are not by any
means the best. Excellent lengths are
five to six and a half inches, and the
value Of a bristle depends as much upon
its color and elasticity as upon its length.
The German m Russian are OF the fol-
lowing colors, placing them in the order
Of their value: white, yellow, black. and
gray. The French bristles are the best
FOR fine varnish and artistic brushes
They are usually only three or four inches
in length, but are the whitest and best
dressed Of all the bristles. They are i'm
ported in a dressed state and not rough
as are the German and Russian. The
well dressed French bristles are usually
as white as chalk, with very soft ends,
and are strong and elastic, springing up
under the touch no matter how thickly
charged with color. They are used in
the finest brush tools, embracing varnish
brushes, fresco brushes, the best sash
brushes, the best quality of shaving
brushes, and the largest brushes used by
artists are made OF them. Hair and
toilet brushes are also made from them.
st. Petersburg, Russia and Leipsic,
Germany, are the great bristle markets
Of the world. the former being the
larger. The English get most OF their
bristles from st. Petersburg, where only
Russian bristles are sold. The Amer
leans get most of theirs from Leipsic,
where both German and Russian are
sold. though the bulk is Russian. The
Russian bristles sold in Leipsic are those
obtained from Poland. The bristles are
pulled out Of the hogs and brought to
market. They are brought principally
in the spring Of the year, the eastern
fairs being the time when most of them
are brought to market and disposed of.
The bristles are dirty, and there is a
shrinkage Of 10 to 25 per cent. in weight
to the after they have beer
thoroughly washed and cleaned. Rus
sian n German bristles are packed in
casks, the quantity ranging from $50 to
500 pounds, the casks not being of the
same capacity. Generally a cask con-
tains bristles Of equal length, but many
times OF different quality and color.
Each quality and color is put up in a
separate bundle and brush manufac-
turers sort them out. These German,
Polish and the Russian bristles sold in
Germany run very irregular and require
the greatest caution and best judgment
in buying. They are in a great variety
of colors and qualities. Boston CONNER
cial Bulletin.