OUR PIGS.
We had every reason to be satisfied with the profit we had derived
from our dairy, and next proceeded to examine the accounts we had kept
of our pigs for six months.
We commenced by purchasing, on the 14th of July, one for which we paid
$7 50. For the first month it had nothing but the wash from the house,
the skim-milk from the dairy, and greens from the garden. When we
began to dig the potatoes, we found we could not hope to save the
whole crop from the disease; we had, therefore, a quantity boiled and
put in the pig-tub, and upon these it was fed another month. At the
end of that time we began to give it a little meal and a few peas. It
was killed three months after we had purchased it, and the cost for
meal and peas was just $250. Thus, altogether, we paid for it $10, and
when killed it weighed thirteen stone (182 pounds). This we reckoned
worth $1 37½ the stone, which made the value of the meat $17 87½; we
had, therefore, a clear profit of $7 87½. Of course, it would have
been very different had we bought all the food for it; but the
skim-milk, and vegetables from the garden would have been wasted, had
we been without a pig to consume them: as it was, the profit arose
from our "farm of four acres."
These particulars are given for the reason that the writer has
frequently heard her friends in the country say, "Oh, I never keep
either pigs or poultry: the pork and the fowls always cost twice the
price they can be purchased for." This we could never understand, when
the despisers of home-cured hams and home-fed poultry used to assert
it. Supposing there was no actual profit, still it seemed strange that
those who had the option of eating pork fed on milk and vegetables,
and fowls which were running about the meadows a few hours before they
were killed, should prefer those which are kept in close confinement
and crammed with candle-graves and other abominations, till they are
considered what dealers call "ripe" enough to kill; and as for pork,
much of that which is sold in towns is fed on the offal from the
butchers' shops, and other filth. It is well known that pigs will eat
anything in the shape of animal food; and for myself, I would much
rather, like the Jew and the Turk, abjure it altogether, than partake
of meat fed as pork too commonly is. How few people can eat this meat
with impunity! but they might do so if the animal had been properly
fed.
It is a great mistake to make pork so fat as it usually is: it is not
only great waste, but deters many persons from partaking of it.
Servants will not eat it, and those who purchase it, as well as those
who kill their own pigs, may be certain that the surplus fat finds its
way into the "wash-tub," for the benefit of a future generation of
"piggies."
Our next venture proved equally fortunate. We bought three small
pigs, for which we gave $3 each; and as we wished to have pickled pork
and small hams, they were killed off as we required them. The first
cost $2 for barley-meal and peas, and weighed six stone, which, at $1
37½ a stone, was worth $8 25. As the cost of the pig and the food came
to just $5, we had a profit of $3 25; but we considered we had no
right to complain: the meat was delicious, and partaken of by the
children as freely as if it had been mutton.
We kept the other pigs somewhat longer, and they cost us no more for
food; for, as I have already stated, they were entirely kept with the
produce of our "four-acre farm," till about three weeks before they
were killed. About a bushel and a half of barley meal and a peck of
peas was all that was purchased for them.
The best way to ensure the healthy condition of the animals is to let
them have the range of a small meadow; they should likewise be
occasionally well scrubbed with soap and water. If they are thus
treated, how much more wholesome must the meat be than when the poor
creatures are shut up in dirty styes, and suffered to eat any garbage
which is thrown to them! We always had all their food boiled. At first
there was a great deal of opposition to the "muck" being introduced
into the scullery; but in a little time that was overcome, and a
"batch" of potatoes used to be boiled in the copper about once a
month. When the skim-milk was removed from the dairy, it was taken to
the "trough," and some of it mixed with a portion of the boiled
potatoes, and with this food they were fed three times daily.
We have been told by a practical farmer on a larger scale, that when
potatoes are not to be procured, a pig of thirty-five stone may be
fattened in ten days on something less than two hundred weight of
carrots. We intend to try if this is the case, and have half an acre
of our orchard (which is arable) sown with carrot-seed, and feed our
"stock" in the winter with the produce. With the surplus milk of two
cows we find we can always keep three pigs with very little expense.
Of course, if we did not plant plenty of potatoes, we must purchase
more meal for them; but as we have an acre of kitchen-garden, we can
very well spare half of it to grow roots for the cows and pigs. We do
not reckon labor in our expenses, as we must have had a gardener, even
if we had not so much spare ground, for our flower-garden and
greenhouse require daily work.
We hope we have convinced those who may think of having a "little
place" a few miles from town, that it may be made a source of profit
as well as of amusement, and that any trouble which may be experienced
by the lady superintending her own dairy and farm will be repaid by
having her table well supplied with good butter, plenty of fresh eggs,
(of the poultry-yard we shall speak presently,) well-cured hams,
bacon, delicate and fresh pork, well-fed ducks, and chickens. All
those country dainties are easily to be procured on a "farm of four
acres."
Nor must another item be omitted--health; for if you wish to be
fortunate in your farming, you must look after things yourself, and
that will necessitate constant exercise in the open air. We think that
we have given full particulars for the management of the cow and pig.
In the next chapter we will relate our experience of the poultry-yard.