"I now give the result of feeding 100 bushels of good peas to sixteen hogs, of various mixed breeds, as found in this section. The peas were boiled until fine, making what I call thick soup. After having fed the hogs on the same kind of food for two weeks, I gave them their morning feed, and weighed each one separately, noting the weight. Twelve of them were about eighteen months old; one was a three year old sow, and three pigs were seven and half months old when weighed. I found their total weight 4267 lbs.; and after consuming the above amount, which took forty-two days, I weighed them again, and found that they had gained 1358 lbs.; and on the supposition that as they gained in flesh they shrunk in offal, I estimated their net gain to have been 1400 lbs. Their drink consisted of ten pails of whey per day. It was allowed to stand forty-eight hours, and the cream was skimmed off.
"I find that there is a great difference in breeds of hogs. The three year old sow small framed, and pretty full-fleshed, weighing 504 lbs. Her gain in the forty-two days was 66 lbs. The three pigs were from her, and showed traces of three distinct breeds of hogs. Their first weight and gain were as follows: the first weighed 253 lbs.—gain, 97 lbs.; the second, 218 lbs.—gain, 75 lbs.; the third, 171 lbs.—gain, 46 lbs. When butchered, the smallest one was the best pork, being the fattest. Two of the most inferior of the hogs gained 1-1/2 lbs. per day; six, mixture of the Berkshire, (I should think about one fourth,) gained 1-3/4 lbs. per day; three of the common stock of our country gained 2-1/2 lbs.; and one of a superior kind weighted 318 lbs., and in the forty-two days gained 134 lbs. They were weighed on the 20th September, the first time. They were kept confined in a close pen, except once a week I let them out for exercise, and to wallow, for the most pint of a day."
METHOD OF CURING SWINE'S FLESH.
"In the county of Kent, when pork is to be cured as bacon, it is the practice to singe off the hairs by making a straw fire round the carcass—an operation which is termed swaling. The skin, in this process, should be kept perfectly free from dirt of all sorts. When the flitches are cut out, they should be rubbed effectually with a mixture of common salt and saltpetre, and afterwards laid in a trough, where they are to continue three weeks or a month, according to their size, keeping them frequently turned; and then, being taken out of the trough, are to be dried by a slack fire, which will take up an equal portion of time with the former; after which, they are to be hung up, or thrown upon a rack, there to remain until wanted. But in curing bacon on the continent, it is mostly the custom to have closets contrived in the chimneys, for the purpose of drying and smoking by wood fires, which is said to be more proper for the purpose. And a more usual mode of curing this sort of meat is that of salting it down for pickled pork, which is far more profitable than bacon.
"In the county of Westmoreland, where the curing of hams has long been practised with much success, the usual method is for them to be at first rubbed very hard with bay salt; by some they are covered close up; by others they are left on a stone bench, to allow the brine and blood to run off. At the end of five days, they are again rubbed, as hard as they were at first, with salt of the same sort, mixed with an ounce of saltpetre to a ham. Having lain about a week, either on a stone bench or in hogsheads amongst the brine, they are hung up, by some in the chimney, amidst the smoke, whether of peat or coals; by others in places where the smoke never reaches them. If not sold sooner, they are suffered to remain there till the weather becomes warm. They are then packed in hogsheads with straw or oatmeal husks, and sent to the place of sale."
A small portion of pyroligneous acid may be added to the brine. It is a good antiseptic, and improves the flavor of ham and bacon. (See Acid, Pyroligneous, in the Materia Medica.)