Chapter XIII

THE PIGGERY AS A PART OF THE DAIRY ESTABLISHMENT.

The keeping of swine is incidental to the well-managed dairy, and both the farmer and the dairyman unite it, to some extent, with other branches of farming.

In the regular operations of the dairy, however economically conducted, there will always be more or less refuse in the shape of whey, butter-milk, or skim-milk, which may be consumed with profit by swine, and which might otherwise be lost. Dairy-fed pork is distinguished for its fineness and delicacy; and the dairy refuse, in connection with grains, potatoes, and scraps, is highly nutritious and fattening.

There is a wide difference between the profit to be derived from the different breeds. Some are far more thrifty than others, and arrive at maturity earlier. But the choice of a breed will depend, to considerable extent, on the locality and the object in view, whether it be to breed for sale as stock, or for pork or bacon.

To get desirable crosses, some breeds must be kept pure, especially in the hands of stock breeders, or those who raise to sell as pure-bred, even though as pure breeds they may not be most profitable to the practical farmer and dairyman. Those who confine themselves to the pure breeds, therefore, do good service to the community of farmers and dairymen, who can avail themselves of the results of their experience and skill.

I think it will generally be conceded that the size of the male is of less importance than his form, his tendency to lay on large amounts of fat in proportion to the food he eats, or his early maturity. Smallness of bone and compactness of form indicate early maturity; and this is an essential element in the calculations of the dairy farmer, who generally raises for pork rather than for bacon, and whose profit will consist in fattening and turning early, or, at most, as young as from twelve to fifteen months. A fine and delicate quality of pork is at the present time highly prized in the markets, and commands the highest price. For bacon, a much larger hog is preferred; but there can be little doubt that the cross of the pure Suffolk or Berkshire boar and the large, heavy and coarse sow, not uncommon in the Western States, would produce an offspring far superior to the class of hogs usually denominated “subsoilers,” with their long and pointed snouts, and their thin, flabby sides. The principles of breeding, as stated on pp. 70 and 71, and elsewhere in the preceding pages, are equally applicable here, and are abundantly suggestive on many other points. This is the important point, the selection of the proper breed and the proper cross: for there is scarcely any class of stock which varies so much in its net returns as this; and there is none which, if properly selected and judiciously managed, returns the investment so quickly.

Those who feed for the early market, and desire to realize the largest profits with the least outlay of time and money, will resort to the Suffolk, the Berkshire, or the Essex, to obtain crosses with sows of the larger breeds, and will breed up more or less closely to these breeds, according to the special object they have in view. The Suffolks are nearly allied to the Chinese, and possess much the same characteristics. Though generally regarded as too small for profit except to those who breed for stock, their extraordinary fattening qualities and their early maturity adapt them eminently for crossing with the larger breeds. The form of the well-built Suffolk, when not too closely inbred, is a model of compactness, and lightness of bone and offal. Though often too short in the body, a large-boned female will generally correct this fault, and produce an offspring suited to the wants of the dairy farmer.

The Berkshire is also mixed in with the Chinese, and owes no small part of its valuable characteristics to that race. The Berkshires, as a breed, often attain considerable size and weight.

The improved Essex are the favorites of some, and for early maturity they are difficult to surpass. Some think they require greater care and better feeding than the Berkshire.

What is wanted is to unite, so far as possible, the early maturity and the facility to take on fat of the Suffolk, the Chinese, or the Essex, with a tendency at the same time to make flesh as well as fat; or, in other words, to attain a good growth and size, and to fatten easily when the time comes to put them down. The Chinese or the Suffolk are but ill adapted for hams and bacon; but, crossed upon the kind of hog already described, the produce will be likely to be valuable.

The most judicious practical farmers are new fully satisfied, I think, that the tendency, for the last ten years, in the Eastern States more especially, has been to breed too fine; and that the result of this error has been to cover our swine with fat at a very early age, and before they have attained a respectable size. In other words, the flesh and bone have been too far sacrificed to fat. A reäction has already taken place in the opinions on this point, and perhaps some caution may be necessary, that it does not load too far in the opposite direction.

Some practical dairymen think that with a dairy of twenty or thirty cows they can keep from forty to fifty swine, by turning into the orchard or the pasture, in early spring, and as pigs, where they will easily procure a large part of their food, till the close of fall, when they are taken in and fed up gradually at first, but afterward more highly, and fattened as rapidly and turned as soon as possible.

Others say there is no profit in working hogs, and that they should be kept confined and constantly and rapidly growing up to the time of turning them for pork, growing steadily, but not laying on too much fat till fed up to it.

I am inclined to think the farmers of the Eastern States confine their swine too closely; and that, while still kept as store-pigs, a somewhat greater range in the orchard, or the pasture, would prove to be good economy, particularly up to the age of eight or nine months.

The judicious dairyman will study the taste and demands of the market where his pork is to be sold. If he supplies a city customer, he knows he must raise a fine and delicate quality of pork; and to do this he must select stock that will early arrive at maturity, and that will bear forcing ahead and selling young. If he supplies a market where large amounts of pork are salted and packed for shipping, or for bacon, a larger and coarser hog, fed to greater age and weight, will turn to better advantage, though I think a strain of finer blood will even then be profitable to the feeder. In either case, the refuse of the dairy is of considerable value, and should be saved with scrupulous care, and judiciously fed. “Many a little makes a mickle.”