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.