Page:The Hog.djvu/160

158 of the year for the production of the litter. In the spring, the fields and paddocks offer fresh grass and various vegetables, and a run upon the pastures will be not only a saving to the farmer, but of benefit to the young pigs; besides which, at this season of the year, whey and buttermilk are abundant, and so continue to be during the greater part of summer. An autumnal litter, again, will have sufficient time to grow and acquire strength before the severities of midwinter; besides, the refuse of the potato crop, and the carrot beds, of the garden generally, and of the mill, is now at hand in abundance.

"A breeding sow should never be overfed; not that she should be starved—on the contrary, she should be kept by a judicious allowance of food, in good condition and perfect health, but not fat. A sow when fat is not likely to be fertile, and, moreover, her parturition is sure to be more difficult and dangerous, and her milk in insufficient quantity, perhaps even of inferior quality, while her unwieldiness renders her more liable to overlay her young. When with pig she should have a commodious and clean sty to herself, and be supplied with sufficient straw to render her comfortable. She should be sufficiently fed, and all her wants supplied. All sources of irritation or annoyance should be avoided, and especially as the time of parturition approaches. From these causes—sometimes, perhaps, from craving hunger—a sow will devour her young; it is said also, that if she be allowed to devour the after-birth, a morbid appetite, leading her to fall upon her litter, will be engendered. For these reasons the sow should be carefully watched and fed, especially if the parturition be her first; and not for these reasons only, but lest her parturition should prove dangerous or in any way difficult.

"On no account should two pregnant sows be placed in one sty, however commodious. They will assault each other, and at last, perhaps, destroy each other's young.

"'Selection, with judicious and cautious admixture, is the true secret of forming a breed.' It is thus that all our improved breeds of domestic animals have been produced, those of the hog not excepted. Hence the old, coarse, large-boned swine have now almost disappeared, and given place to small-boned breeds, apt to fatten, mature at an earlier age, affording more delicate meat, less expensive to keep, and, therefore, altogether more profitable breeds. Such are rapidly extending themselves, and improvements are going on. Many landed proprietors pride themselves on the possession of a particular breed of their own establishment, and remarkable for good qualities of every kind. In the establishment of such a stock, indiscriminate selection, and a repetition of crosses, with no definite object, must be avoided; while, at the same time, a pertinacious adherence to the plan of breeding in and in from the same stock, however excellent, will ultimately result in its degeneracy.