The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1889-05-31
Hog Breeding.

Some rather startling combinations
have been made on the subject of hog
breeding. 1t has been found that, if per.
mitted, hogs will live from fifteen to
twenty years Of age, that they COM
mence breeding when they are from
nine to twelve months old, and that from
one pair only in ten years, allowing only
SIX to q litter, male and female, upward
of 6,434,9 1888 pigs would be obatined;
that is to say that, if, instead of three
acres and COW, countryman started
with some acres and pair of pigs, he
might in the course of ten years count
their progeny by millions. This is not
reckoning on any out -the-way basis.
for 1t has been shown that one sow
actually produced 800 pigs in twenty lit
ters; while at an exhibition of the Aeri-
cultural society boar was shown which.
although only twenty months old, was
already the father of !, ,4G6 hogs Here
then is wealth for the milllon.-San
Francisco Argonaut.
Industries In Ancient Ireland.
Poets and rhetorcians have in their usual
Tree and easy way exaggerated tho material
prosperity OF ancient Ireland Much of the
spiendor attributed to Kettle kings aud bish.
ops and hards fades under the cold light of
historical research. But this very research
has put beyond all doubt that beneath the
eXaggerations of rhetoric aud song there Law
a solid substratum Of truth. Thus the publi-
cation by parliamentary commission of the
immense and previously almost unexplored
mass of legal institutes known as the "Brehon
Laws" has verified the fact that at a time
When Brltons were almost naked savages the
Irish kelts were clad In woolens and linens of
their own manufacture
The Brehon laws abound with references
not only TO woolen and linen goods, but To
cardlng, weaving, dyeing and the other pro-
cesses of their Manufacture Again, I'm the
remarkable metrical account of the rights OF
the monarchs OF Ireland and of the proyin-
cal kings, attributed to a contemporary Of
~. Patrtck, and known as the Book of
flights, we find that tribute was paid to q
large extent IN cloaks tunics, mantles and
other articles OF woolen and linen manufac-
ture, some white, some brown some trimmed
with purple, some with fur and some with
gold We can See for ourselves something OF
what was dcse in the more durable mate.
rials Textile fabrics, except of the eoarsest
KIND, perish In far less time than 1900 years.
But metal work, If good in material and de-
sign, survives. Accordingly we have abund-
ant specimens of such work come down to us
from the Kelto period
Many of these are rough, but many are rich
In material, good in design, and exquisiteN
skllful IN workmanship. Some were found
deep below the surface OF our boys, where
probably they were dropped in flight, and got
gradually covered with peat Ia the slow lapse
OF centuries Others were found In stone
chambers made for their reception, and for
gotten Tor more than thousand years Vast
quantities OF the gold work were consigned b
the egueible Some goldsmiths estimate that
they purchased and melted down as much as
tlO,OOO worth of ancient Kettle gold work
found from time 10 time In Ireland. Butt
10 fortunately, much also has been preserved.
lhere Is quite magnificent collectioa Of
works IN gold, silver and bronze in the Mu.
SCUM OF the Royal Irish academy in Dublin.
Besides these there arc many fine specimens
IN Trinity college, Dublin, and in the British
museum London.-Harper's Magazine