Harris on the Pi G
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O H HARRI S N T E PIG . B EEDIN BE ARING M NAGEMENT R G, , A , I M P R O V E M E N T . y ? ' n o nnr O N F R M R O C H E S T E R N . Y . A , , T ATED ILLUS R . N E W Y O R K D OMP N ORAN GE JU D AND C A Y, 2 45 B R O A D W A Y» Entere accordin to Act of on re ss d g C g , CO . , ’ In the Clerk s Ofiice of the Di s trict Court of the Uni te d State s for the Southe rn D of e York istrict N w . P R E F A C E . a it ma in n n Par doxical as y seem, writi g a book o Pigs and in endeav oring to show that we c an obtain more l - in o on t o meat from a we l bred pig, prop rti the food con n o an o s n no sumed , tha fr m y ther dome tic a imal, it is part n o of my object to stimulate the productio of p rk. For over twenty years I have had the honor to be c on ne ct ed w and ith the Agricultural Press of America, have had my thoughts constantly directed to the means nece s ’ s n s n ary to improve our ge eral sy tem of farmi g. A farmer s s on and s , my elf a farmer, all my sympathies are with the farming class rather than with the consumers ; but I am s in n n n sati fied that, ma y respects , our i terests are ide tical . It Should be our study to furnish good fo od at reasonable n n in r . s s ates At the pre e t time . the co umers our large cities are obliged t o pay much more for fle sh- meat than n ns o and on o n it is i tri ically w rth ; , the ther ha d, with the exception of those who produce beef and mutton of n n n and the best quality, farmers make othi g by raisi g f n and eedi g cattle sheep . We receive more for our meat n o and s n tha it is w rth , yet it cost us more tha we get for it. n ond n ff The remedy for this u satisfactory c itio of a airs, n in n n in will be fou d cultivati g our la d more thoroughly, o n in n o and in gr wi g better grass, keepi g better st ck liber l n a feedi g. The introduction of better breeds of pigs will in itself do little towards improving our farms ; but the farmer who once uses a thorough - bred boar and adopts a liberal s of n find can o ystem feedi g, will that he pr duce better p ork at a far less cost than when he uses a common boar ; 3 4 R RI S N THE PI G HA O . and he will be likely t o study the principles of breeding o int rod uc with an interest he has never felt bef re. The tion of a thorough - bred boar will lead t o the introduction of a thorough - bred ram a nd a th orough- bred bull Of a good r and in n n on n and b eed, this, co ju cti with clea er culture a o n n t o u s m re liberal feedi g, is all that is eeded give better and cheaper meat ; and at the same time we shall make and r n and n t o l r more icher ma ure, be e abled grow a ger nd n a far more profitable crops Of grai . st t who on n I believe I was the fir wri er c te ded that, n n w a s s r n other thi gs bei g equal , it de i able to get a imals o s and s s a o n of that w uld eat , dige t a imilate a large m u t o In o o n a n t o f od . the f ll wi g pages I h ve e deavored give s ome reas ons for this Opinion and have cited some e xp e ri n s on m of s a me t that c fir it . If true pig , it is equ lly true and s n a d of cattle heep. If ge er lly a mitted , it will lead to ’ a more liberal system Of feeding and t o the production of o and a m re far better me t . It may be th ought th at I should have said more in re ff d s gard to the di ere nt bree s of pigs in the United State . There is in almost e very s ection a class Of us eful pigs of more or les s l o cal reputation but it is doubtful if they have been kept pure for a s ufficient length of time t o war n u s in S n of s s s A nd ra t peaki g them as e tabli hed breed . n s n w of n n a eve if this were the ca e, I k o o e of them th t s ss n s of off on o po se es the small e s al , perfecti of f rm , early and n n Of o s ss maturity, fatte i g qualities the Y rk hire , E ex s non h o not or Berk hire . There is e of them t at w uld be improved in these respects by cro ssing with a th orough bred boar of either of these breeds . s of s t Of the di eases pig I have said li tle , for the simple on n in n n reas that I k ow little regard to them . Clea li ess and n s n for good treatme t are the be t medici es a pig . n o o m o os t o m an A at mically, a pig appr xi ates m re cl ely a , n an Of o s n s and n tha y other our d me tic a imal , if we k ow r o in s how to treat a cold or a dia rh ea ourselves , we hall P R E F E AC . 5 not n in n in be far wro g treati g a pig the same way. And s s s b s o . e of other di ea e It should Observed, however, s a s m in n s man that a pig grow uch eight mo th , as a d oes in n s s o h n eightee year . Thi rapid gr wt e ables the pig t w off di s in d s ei her to thro ease a few ay , or failing in s s s s on S o s s thi , the di ea e o preads through ut the whole y and Off tem carries its victim . Thus typh oid fever is often “ s o ra pidly fatal a s to be p opularly sp oken of as Hog ” o . s o s o t o Ch lera Our fir t aim, theref re , h uld be guard a gainst all hereditary diseases in the s election of pigs for b reedi ng a nd to e xercis e great care in maintaining t he h and ou r s n ealth vigor of wi e. In n o n n prepari g this b ok, I have correspo ded with ma y e n a nd in n xperie ced breeders, the appe dix have given s o o s on n me extracts from this c rre p de ce . We have been asked by a s cientific friend to call this a ” “ ” o o o n ns of on b k the Hog i tead the Pig . If it were o o n n s o o o o a w rk atural hi t ry , hog w uld be the pr per w rd, n d n but it is purely a practical treatise o omestic swi e . A pig is a y oung hog ; a nd the aim of this work is t o induce s t o e a nd farmer so bre d feed their pigs , that they will be in the p ork barrel long before they attain the age of an O ld- s on ho is o t o Of fa hi ed g. It pr per speak the wild ” a nd of n s o im hog, there may be varieties swi e little o as o s o v a p r ved to be h gs till. Let th se who ha e them c ll o s nno s e e n them h g , but we ca t the propriety of calli g a ho All the n e e s . highly refi ed Ess x or B rk hire pig , a g m odern agricultural writers on s wine seem to have adopt w N ot one of ed this vie .