1200 Live Stcck.—Swine—Methods of fattening of.

derably lefs on one of a{mall fize*. A hog put up to fatten in good condition, and they fhould never be put up in the contrary ftate, which when fat will weigh twenty fcore, will confume in the proportion of fix or feven buthels of peafe+.

In regard to the method of giving the different materials that are employed in the fattening of fwine, there are different opinions entertained; fome contending that they fhould be ufed as much as poffible in a folid form, wath, as drink, being occafionally ufed; while others prefer the contrary method as the moft beneficial: as in the latter mode there will Le lefS time taken up by the hogs in feeding, and of courfe more left for them to fleep and refiin, as well as more economy in the food and the labour of giving it, it is probably the moft advifable. It has indeed been obferved by Mr. Young, in his excellent Calendar of Hufbandry, that* the moft profitable method of converting corn of any kind into food for hogs is to grind it into meal, and mix this with water in cifterns, in the proportion of five bufhels

hundred gallons of water, ftirring it well feveral times a day for three

of meal to one weeks in cold weather, or for a fortnight in a warmer feafon, by which it will have fermented well and become acid; till which time it is not ready to give.’ This

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mixture fhould always* be ftirred immediately before feeding,’ and‘ two or three cifterns(iould be kept fermenting in fucceffion, that no neceffity may occur of giving it not duly prepared. The difference in profit between feeding in this man- ner, and giving the grain whole or only ground, is fo great, that whoever tries it once will not be apt to change it for the common methods.”_ It is added that“ pea- foup is an excellent food for hogs, and may, though he has not fufficiently com- pared them, equal the above, efpecially if given in winter, milk warm.” But wherever food is prepared by heat, the expenfes of fuel and labour are a great draw- back on the profits of the fyflem. It fhould therefore be well confidered before it is undertaken. But in whatever way the food be given, great care fhould be taken that the hogs have a full allowance at fufficiently fhort intervals to keep them con- flantly in a ftate of-reft, as it is on this principle that they become fat in an expedi- tious manner. It is a fact frequently obferved in fattening hogs, that they pay bet- ter for their keep in the latter part of their fattening than in the former; which pro- bably arifes in fome meafure from their not being fed in a fufficiently full manner, or with fufficient frequency in the beginning, fo as to keep them in a ftate of reft. The length of time that is neceflary in fattening thefe animals muft vary much according to the ftate in which they are put up, their fizes, and the differences in

* Communications to the Board of Agriculture, Vol. II.+ Ibid.