REARING AND FATTENING PIGS

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1651, 21 October 1903, Page 60

REARING AND FATTENING PIGS

Mr Sanders Spencer contributes an admirable paper on the rearing and fattening of pigs to the "Journal” of the Board of Agriculture. He points out that there has been of late an enormous increase in the consumption, of bacon, hams and smajl pork _ in -Great Britain. Of bacon there is now imported about 250,000 tons annually; in addition to this, our imports of bams, lard, and fresh pork are enormous, and the whole costs the country about £25.000,000 a year, or more than double as much as wo paid for the same kinds of imported food as recently as ton years ago. At the same time our home manufacture of pork products lias also increased, owing to the fact that greater attention has been paid to the feeding and earlier maturity of our home-bred Pigs* , IMPORTANCE OF BREED. Mr Spencer puts importance on,, the oondition that pigs for fattening purposes should bo well bred, but lie has to deplore that in no department on the farm does there appear to have less progress than in (the breeding of pigs. He gees on to give hints that would bo of use to breeders, alluding to the character of sows and the early feeding of young litters. Progress has certainly Vyn made in the manner of feeding, for sntviiy pig breeders have so advanced that they believe in feeding the fattening pigs three times a day, and actually save the natural heat of tho fatting pig by pouring hot w(.ter on the food during very cold weather, and this at

a tithe of the expense which would result if the fatting pig had to raise the temperature of the food eo that the digestive organ could perform their duties. How frequently in times gone by, if not even now, in so>mo farms and piggeries not up to date, are the poor pigs seen to be shaking and huddling together after having eaten a breakfast of half frozen food, which is supposed to be given them to convert into meat?