330 On Fattening of Swine.[May,

surely the breeder ought and will pay due attention to this decided preference of the grazier. But besides this, in general both the butcher, and the person who works oxen, entertain the same predilection, and no doubt their opinion is formed on the ground of absolute merit.

Had your Correspondent Verax, or any Pembrokeshire Gen- tleman, risen to accept the challenge of Mr. Knight, when he joffered at Lord Somerville’s Meeting, to shew ten Here- fordshire oxen against ten of any other breed in the kingdom, a certain smile of astonishment would immediately have oc- cupied every countenance in the room.

We shall be told, in the next place probably, that the Gla-

morganshire breed(and I have heard this once positively,

asserted)“ is at least equal in merit to any of the above-men- tioned breeds:” and that the yoke of Glamorgaus lately ex- hibited in Langhorn’s yard, by Mr. Waters, were more valua- ble than any yoke of Herefords or Devons there shewn, be- cause they so much exceeded any of their competitors in length of leg and enormity of bone. Yours, T. WESTON. re ON FATTENING OF SWINE. To the Editor of the Agricultural Magazine. Sir, CANNOT subscribe to the doctrine of your Correspondent, the Oxonian, which appears in your last Magazine, page 276, that cleanliness is no necessary part of the process in fat- toning of swine.

From what I have seen of the habits of this animal, I am strongly inclined to agree implicitly with the epinion and assertion of Mr. Saunders on this point, as stated in a for- mer Number of your Publication. For I have almost in- variably observed swine carefully reserving a certain part of their habitation as a place of rest, which they have studiously kept free from every species of defilement. And I am con- vinced that they will never fatten well when they have it not in their power to make such a reservation. The hog is fre- guently seen carrying straw and other dry materials, in order to form his bed, with a degree of sagacity and method scarcely ever to be discovered in other brute animals.

The hog, which has plenty of food allotted him, will never search for it in mire and dirt: it is merely the want of a suf- ficiency to satisfy his voracious appetite, and a strong desire which he feels to obtain the roots of certain vegetables, which induce him to explore, and turn up moist and wet soil. Place before him, when in a fattening state, clear spring water, and likewise that which is muddy, and you will never see him quench his thirst with the muddy water.