The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1895-05-18
i! d 81 y fEsSY3 ~ " = e. . II
GRASS ON 4 HOG.


the privilege Of sseing recently in .
Nt&le mnseum Hay down IN Ahe dFreneh
quarter no lsag > cu1iQ than . hog
spqrting complete and boua Ade crop
81 grass III over his body ..in de place
whar de haf ought to grow"
This s0unds like the most preposter-
ous tliing ON 1eeoed, writes = cofre-
spondeut Of the Philadelphia Times,
and 20 your correspondent copoeived it
to be until he came to the point Of sacri-
fcinQ . dime on the altar Of his In
credulity, and beheld with his own eyes
the wonder. The animal sppeared TO
be . wdll,g1own nine or ten-months'
shoa4 OF the. Essex breed, with the
usual broad back, chubby neck and
abort legs, but from the tip Of his nose
to the end Of his tail he was hristling
with Is perfect fresh green grass - the
finest lawn mixture 10 warranted to
produce.
Tho exhibitor from time to time
clipped : stray bit Of erass from tho
hogs abundant crop and passed It
sround for inspection. / am willing to
testify on oath that It was the genuine
article and no mistake, and the more I
9axed tho more the wonder grew that
one short hog should wear 20 strange .
hue, till finally my curiosity got the
better Of my purse strings and I
chipped in with some other fellows and
got the man to let rs on to the fake.
Easy enough explained. said the ex-
.hibitm, ashe began tospray the anin1at-
ed grass plot with . small rubber bulb
which he held constantly n his hand.
'.Just step behind here and, take . close
look at the hog. Mind how you handle
him, though, or you may break him all
up. Seems to be pretty good thick
-ncss Of earth twixt him and the grass,
don't there? Yes. Wen, that's just It.
Grass grows in dirt and nowhere else,
% all you've got TO do is to get enough
oft to stick to hog and he'll make you
about as good lawn - you'd find any
where almost.
''That's strsightso far a. It goes, but,
Of course, there Is sa.good deal more to
It before you can work mp such IN ar
ticle - this here. In tho 6rst place
you have got to 6 ct the right kind OF .
hog. i generally use . Berkshire or an
Essex, because they arc good and broad
and you can feed 'em up to be pretty
lazy. This Il necessary, OF course, as :
hrislky hog il not liable to hold mud or
water either for . long time. The next
step Is to get the right kind Of soil.
.'Now, I always use dirt collected
from ant hills, but this Is an old dodge
Borrowed from the East Indian Jug
glers, who can make . manGo sprout
and grow six or seven fess in ~ many
inmates Scientista sAy that it Il the
tormic acid in earth which causes seed
TO burst and the germ 70 develop when
placed therein. and this acid Is freely
generated by tho ant. Pour : cupful Of
hot waser over handful Of the insects
md It win become as sour - vinegar.
'.Of course It il essy enough to get .
layer Of aoil sbout m inch thick calred
up On hog. and . little training will
teach him to keep it there all right. I
put a.ring in this fellows nose and tie
him up short 80 that he can't 6l<irmish
around, and thets about I'll. plant
my seed, which sprout and come up IN
about . weekA tima, for haven't qnite
gotten mp to the jugglers' minute per-
formances yet So there's your hog -
big - LIE and ss green q grass.
II have several hogs which use at
different times. - It would not do to
Keep one-with his porss stopped mp too
|ong. SopnetimeA too, I vary the mo-
notpuy By planting small, low-growing
M~~.- A. n -
rigeed mp vagairy With ) sprig Of ami
|ax Tor tho tan, little coleus plants
nakmg the stars and dstripes on either
ide, and asaaor-back Of pansiesrunning
bet~een- Bat thatdid notgovery well.
The fake M4s too obvious, and / lost
:rsds by It. Since then have confined
myself almost entirely to grass, which
Ieerns 10 70 somehow, perhaps owing
10 the general greenneis OF the public" /,