Domestic Animals Part 27

The roots for fattening animals ought to be washed, and steamed or boiled; and when not intended to be fermented, the meal may be scalded with the roots. A small quant.i.ty of salt should be added. Potatoes are the best roots for swine; then parsnips; orange or red carrots, white or Belgian; sugar beets; mangel-wurzel; ruta-bagas; and the white turnips, in the order mentioned. The nutritive properties of turnips are diffused through so large a bulk, that we doubt if they can ever be fed to fattening swine with advantage; and they will barely sustain lift when fed to them uncooked.

There is a great loss in feeding roots to fattening swine, without cooking. When unprepared grain is fed, it should be on a full stomach, to prevent imperfect mastication, and consequent loss of the food. It is better indeed to have it always before them. The animal machine is an expensive one to keep in motion, and it should be the object of the farmer to put his food in the most available condition for its immediate conversion into fat and muscle.

Swine ought to be kept perfectly dry and clean, and provided with a warm shelter, to which they can retire at pleasure. This will greatly hasten the fattening and economize the food. They thrive better and are generally less subject to disease, when long confined in yards, by having a clear running stream always accessible, to wallow in. This is one of the best preventives of vermin and cutaneous diseases. A hog ought to have three apartments, one each for sleeping, eating, and evacuations, of which the last may occupy the lowest, and the first the highest level, so that nothing shall be drained, and as little carried into the first two as possible. They must be regularly fed three times a day, and if there is a surplus, it should be removed at once. If they are closely confined in pens, give them as much charcoal twice a week as they will eat. This corrects any tendency to disorders of the stomach.

Rotten wood is an imperfect subst.i.tute for charcoal.

Graves, sc.r.a.ps, or cracklings, as they are variously called, the residuum of rough lard or tallow, after expressing the fat, are a good change and an economical food. Some animal food, although not essential, is always acceptable to swine. When about to finish them off, many feed for a few weeks on hard corn. This is proper when slops or indifferent food has been given, and meal cannot be conveniently procured; but when fattened on sound roots and meal, it is a wasteful practice, as the animal thus falls behind his accustomed growth. It is better to give him an occasional feed of the raw grain, for a change, and to sharpen his appet.i.te.

_The products furnished by the carca.s.s of swine_ are numerous. Every part of the animal is used for food, and it admits of a far greater variety of preparation for the table, than any other flesh. From the remotest antiquity to the present time, and in every grade of barbarous and civilized life, it has been esteemed as one of the choicest delicacies of the epicure.

_Lard-oil_ (_oleine_) has, within a few years, given to pork a new and profitable use, by which the value of the carca.s.s is greatly increased.

At some of the large pork-packing depots of the West, one-third of the whole quant.i.ty has been thus disposed of. This has withdrawn a large amount of pork from the market, and prevented the depression which must otherwise have occurred.

Where the oil is required, the whole carca.s.s, after taking out the hams and shoulders, is placed in a tub having two bottoms, the upper one perforated with holes, on which the pork is laid, and then tightly covered. Steam, at a high temperature, is then admitted into the tub, and in a short time all the fat is extracted and falls upon the lower bottom. The remaining ma.s.s is bones and sc.r.a.ps. The last is fed to pigs, poultry, or dogs, or affords the best kind of manure. The bones are either used for manure, or are converted into animal charcoal, worth about three cents per pound, which is valuable for various purposes in the arts. When the object is to obtain lard of a fine quality, the animal is first skinned, and the adhering fat carefully sc.r.a.ped off. The oily, viscid matter of the skin is thus avoided. When tanned, the skin makes a valuable leather. An aggregate weight of 1790 lbs. from four well-fattened animals, after taking out the hams and shoulders, say about 400 lbs., gave within a fraction of 1200 lbs. of the best lard.

_Stearine and Oleine._--Lard and all fatty matters consist of three principles, of which stearine contains the stearic and margaric acids, both of which, when separated, are solid, and used as inferior subst.i.tutes for wax or spermaceti candles. The other, oleine, is fluid at a low temperature, and in American commerce, is known as _lard-oil_.

It is very pure, and extensively used for machinery, lamps, and most of the purposes for which olive or spermaceti oils are used.

Curing Hams and Pork.

After dressing, the carca.s.s should be allowed to hang till perfectly drained and cool, when it may be cut up and salted. The usual way is to pack the pork in clean salt, adding brine to the barrel when filled. But it may be dry salted, by rubbing it in thoroughly on every side of each piece, with a strong leather rubber firmly secured to the palm of the right hand. The pieces are then thrown into heaps and sprinkled with salt, and occasionally turned till cured; or it may at once be packed in dry casks, which are occasionally rolled to bring the salt into contact with every part.

Hams and Shoulders

May be cured in the same manner, either dry or in pickle, but with differently arranged materials. The following is a good pickle for 200 lbs. Take 14 lbs. of Turk Island salt; lb. of saltpetre; 2 qts. of mola.s.ses, or 4 lbs. of brown sugar, with water enough to dissolve them.

Bring the liquor to the scalding point, and skim off all the impurities which rise to the top. When cold, pour it upon the ham, which should be perfectly cool but not frozen, and closely packed; and if not sufficient to cover it, add enough pure water for this purpose. Some extensive packers in Cincinnati and elsewhere, who send choice hams to market, add pepper, allspice, cinnamon, nutmegs, or mace and cloves.

The hams may remain six or eight weeks in this pickle, then hung up in the smoke-house, with the small end down, and smoked from 10 to 20 days, according to the quant.i.ty of smoke. The fire should not be near enough to heat the hams. In Holland and Westphalia, the fire is made in the cellar, and the smoke carried by a flue into a cool, dry chamber. This is undoubtedly the best method of smoking. The hams should at all times be dry and cool, or their flavor will suffer. Green sugar-maple chips are best for smoke; next to them are hickory, sweet-birch, corn-cobs, white-ash, or beech.

The smoke-house is the best place to keep hams till wanted. If removed, they should be kept cool, dry, and free from flies. A canva.s.s-cover for each, saturated with lime, which may be put on with a whitewash brush, is a perfect protection against flies. When not to be kept long, they may be packed in dry salt, or even in sweet brine, without injury. A common method is to pack in dry oats, baked sawdust, &c.

DISEASES OF SWINE.

Mortifying as the fact may be to human pride, it is nevertheless certain, that the internal arrangements, the viscera, digestive organs, omnivorous propensities, and the general physiological structure of the hog and the bear, more nearly resemble man, than any other animal. Many of their diseases may therefore be expected to be a modification of those of the human species, and require a similar treatment.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 36.

Skeleton of a Pig.

A Maxilla inferior, vel posterior; lower jaw.--B Dentes; the teeth.--C Ossa nasi; the nasal bones.--D Maxilla superior, vel anterior; upper jaw.--E Os frontis; the frontal bone.--F Orbiculus; the orbit or socket of the eye.--G Os occipitis; the occipital bone.--H Atlas; the first vertebra of the neck.--I Vertebrae colli, vel cervicales; the vertebrae of the neck.--J Vertebrae dorsi, vel dorsales; the vertebrae of the back.--K Vertebrae lumborum, vel lumbales; the vertebrae of the loins.--L Ossa coccygis; the bones of the tail.--_a_ Scapula; the shoulder-blade.--_b_ Humerus; the round shoulder-bone.--_c_ Sternum; the breastbone.--_d_ Ulna; the elbow.--_e_ Radius; the bone of the fore-arm.--_f_ Os naviculare: the navicular bone.--_g_ Phalanges vel ossa pedis; the first and second bones of the foot.--_h_ Phalanges, vel ossa pedis; the bones of the hoof.--_i_ Pelvis, (ossa innorninata;) the haunch bones.--_j_ Os femoris; the thigh-bone.--_k_ Patella; the stifle-bone.--_l_ Tibia; the upper bone of the leg--_m_ Tarsus, (one of which is the (N) os calcis;) the hock-bones.--_n_ Os naviculare; the navicular bone.--_o_ Digiti, vel phalanges, (ossa pedis;) the first digits of the foot.--_p_ Digiti, vel phalanges, (ossa pedis;) the second digits of the foot.]

Pulmonary Affections, Colds, Coughs, and Measles.

To each of these, swine are peculiarly liable, and, as with most other evils, prevention of disease in swine is more easy and economical than cure. A dry warm bed, free from winds or storms, and suitable food, will most effectually prevent any injuries, or fatal attacks. The hog has little external covering to protect him against cold. Nature has provided this immediately within the skin, in the deep layer of fat which surrounds the full, plump hog. Fat is one of the best non-conductors of heat, and the pig which is well-fed bids defiance to the intense cold, which would produce great suffering, and consequent disease, in the ill-conditioned animal. By the observance of a proper medium between too much fat or lean, for the store or breeding swine, and providing them with comfortable beds and proper feed, nearly all diseases will be avoided.

For _Coughs and Inflammation of the Lungs_, bleeding should immediately be resorted to, after which give gentle purges of castor oil, or Epsom salts; and this should be followed with a dose of antimonial powders--2 grains, mixed with half a drachm of nitre.

For _Costiveness_ or loss of appet.i.te, sulphur is an excellent remedy, given in a light mess.

_Itch_ may be cured by anointing with equal parts of lard and brimstone.

Rubbing-posts, and a running stream to wallow in are preventives.

The _Kidney Worm_ is frequently fatal; and always produces weakness of the loins and hind legs, usually followed by entire prostration. A pig thus far gone, is hardly worth the trouble of recovering, even where practicable.

_Preventives_, are general thrift, a range in a good pasture, and a dose of half a pint of wood-ashes every week or fortnight in their food. A small quant.i.ty of saltpetre, spirits of turpentine, or tar, will effect the same object. When attacked, apply spirits of turpentine to the loins, and administer calomel carefully; or give half a tablespoonful of copperas daily for one or two weeks.

Blind Staggers.

This is generally confined to pigs, and manifests itself in foaming at the mouth, rearing on their hind legs, champing and grinding their teeth, and apparent blindness. The proper remedies are bleeding and purging freely, and these frequently fail. Many nostrums have been suggested, but few are of any utility. It is important to keep the issues on the inside of the fore-legs, just below the knee, thoroughly cleansed.

The _tails_ of young pigs frequently _drop_ or _rot off_, which is attended with no further disadvantage to the animal than the loss of the member. The _remedies_ are, to give a little brimstone or sulphur in the food of the dam; or rub oil or grease daily on the affected parts. It may be detected by a roughness or scabbiness at the point where separation is likely to occur.

_Bleeding._--The most convenient mode, is from an artery just above the knee, on the inside of the fore-arm. It may be drawn more copiously from the roof of the mouth. The flow of blood may usually be stopped, by applying a sponge or cloth with cold water.

The diseases of swine, though not numerous, are formidable, and many of them soon become fatal. They have not been the subject of particular scientific study, and most of the remedies applied, are rather the result of casual or hap-hazard suggestion, than of well-digested inference, from long-continued and accurate observation.

CHAPTER VIII.

FARM-DOGS.

No grazing farm is complete without one or more intelligent, well-trained dogs, adapted to the various wants of their owners; and the general taste has made their presence almost universal in every rural household. The dog is peculiarly the friend of man. Many other animals have a temporary though feeble attachment to him, which seems the result rather of constant companions.h.i.+p, or the selfishness of dependence, than any well-settled affection towards a master.

The dog alone, of all the brute creation, seems capable of a disinterested, self-sacrificing affection; and this, united with his usefulness and adaptedness to all climes and countries, has made him a favorite in every quarter of the globe. Since this animal is the habitual tenant of the farm, and, when suited to his peculiar duties, can be made of great utility by the a.s.sistance he is capable of affording in its management, we deem it entirely appropriate to our subject to indicate such of the species as are deserving the farmer's attention. Discarding all ideas of fancy or sportsmans.h.i.+p, and looking to utility alone, we may safely affirm that the farmer needs only such as may be found in the four breeds of the Newfoundland, the Shepherd's and Drover's dog, and the Terrier.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 37.

Newfoundland Dog.]

The Newfoundland Dog.

This dog, of which we give a portrait, is always above medium height, and frequently is of the largest size. He is long-haired and s.h.a.ggy, and has a thick coat of fine, soft fur, beneath the outer covering, which is almost impenetrable by water. His color is most frequently black; often spotted and partially flecked or grayish; and occasionally buff. The Newfoundland is of the Spaniel family, but derives its name from the island where it has been bred for centuries, to the great advantage of its inhabitants. There are two varieties: the large, used in the north, called the Labrador; and the smaller, more docile and intelligent, of the south, called the St. John's. They are employed by the islanders, and the people of the neighboring coast, in drawing their sleds and carts loaded with fish, wood, &c. They aid them in various ways in their fis.h.i.+ng operations; they are strong, courageous, and watchful; and with slight training, they are scarcely inferior to the best hunting-dogs in pursuing the wild game that abounds in those high northern lat.i.tudes.

These estimable qualities, coupled with their uniform good-nature, have always made them favorites with the farmer.

The Newfoundland is an excellent watch-dog; sagacious in discriminating between a friend and a foe, and with courage and strength to follow out his prompt and judicious conclusions. He is easily trained for the drover, to whom he is frequently a great a.s.sistant; and with a scent sufficiently acute to pursue game, he is readily broken in as a useful companion to the sportsman. He can also be made serviceable in the various duties of the farm: destroying noxious vermin, taking the cattle and horses to the field or water, drawing a light load, churning the b.u.t.ter, &c. It is true, he has not all the sagacity of the Poodle, whose intelligence approaches nearer to human reason than any other of the brute creation. But if he has not that quick apprehension, which too often leads, as in the case of forward children, to the attainment of every worthless accomplishment and the indulgence of every loaferish habit, he seems to have a sedate, well-formed judgment, which makes all his wit available for some useful purpose. He is unsurpa.s.sed as a water-dog; and his courageous efforts, wherever an opportunity has been afforded, in rescuing numberless human beings from a watery grave, together with his unswerving fidelity and devotion, commend him as the prince of the canine family.

The Shepherd's Dog.