Pigs are fond of mast, the name given to the acorns and beech nuts that cover the ground in the nutting season in oak and beech woods. In ancient times it was the common practice to fatten the pigs on these nuts in the proper season.
A hungry pig is not particular about his food. If no plants are to be had he will feed on worms, snakes, and small animals of any kind. Pigs in the pen are often fed on animal refuse, all sorts of kitchen slops being poured into their troughs. They will swallow this stuff greedily enough, but it is not good for them, or at least for those who eat their flesh, for this loses in flavor and is not so wholesome as when they are fed on good vegetable food.
Corn and clover are two of the things the pig likes best. Turn him out into a clover field and he will have a joyful time of his own in this rich food and put plenty of good fat on his ribs. He does no harm to the field if not left there too long and it does good to him. In fattening pigs corn is freely given. It is not best to give corn alone, but it makes a good dessert after he has had the run of the pasture or clover field, and is the best fattener when he is being put in order for the market.
In visiting a farm the pig-pen is one of the things we are shown. It is not a pleasant place for a morning call, for the smell is not a sweet perfume and the mire in which the pig rolls is not nice. We are apt to go away with the feeling that this animal is a dirty brute.
This is giving poor piggy a bad name which he does not deserve. It is his owner more than himself that is to blame. If he had his own way he would be clean enough. Like all thick-skinned animals the pig loves to wallow in the mire and cover himself with mud to protect him against insects. But left to himself he will keep his sleeping place clean. Those who know how to keep pigs soon learn this and supply the animals with dry and clean places to sleep in.
A Fat Berkshire Hog. A Monarch of the Sty
Pork, or the flesh of the pig, has long been used as meat. In some places so much is thought of it that the animal is held to be sacred. It is the chief flesh food in the South Sea islands, where the animal was long made a precious sacrifice to the deities. This was also the case in ancient Greece, and on the island of Crete the hog was a sacred animal.
No people have ever been fonder of hog meat than the ancient Romans, and we are told of strange ways by which they gave it a fine flavor. They fed their pigs with old, dried figs, drenched with wine and honey. This was to make their livers grow large, pig's liver being a choice Roman dish.
In cooking the meat they would often serve a pig whole, one side being boiled and the other side roasted. In dressing the animal for the tables of the emperors and of rich Romans they would stuff it with such delicate food as larks and nightingales and serve it with wine and rich gravies. To eat pork in such ways would seem very odd in our days.