We kept the other pigs somewhat longer, and they cost us no more for
food; for, as I have already stated, they were entirely kept with the
produce of our "four-acre farm," till about three weeks before they
were killed. About a bushel and a half of barley meal and a peck of
peas was all that was purchased for them.

The best way to ensure the healthy condition of the animals is to let
them have the range of a small meadow; they should likewise be
occasionally well scrubbed with soap and water. If they are thus
treated, how much more wholesome must the meat be than when the poor
creatures are shut up in dirty styes, and suffered to eat any garbage
which is thrown to them! We always had all their food boiled. At first
there was a great deal of opposition to the "muck" being introduced
into the scullery; but in a little time that was overcome, and a
"batch" of potatoes used to be boiled in the copper about once a
month. When the skim-milk was removed from the dairy, it was taken to
the "trough," and some of it mixed with a portion of the boiled
potatoes, and with this food they were fed three times daily.

We have been told by a practical farmer on a larger scale, that when
potatoes are not to be procured, a pig of thirty-five stone may be
fattened in ten days on something less than two hundred weight of
carrots. We intend to try if this is the case, and have half an acre
of our orchard (which is arable) sown with carrot-seed, and feed our
"stock" in the winter with the produce. With the surplus milk of two
cows we find we can always keep three pigs with very little expense.
Of course, if we did not plant plenty of potatoes, we must purchase
more meal for them; but as we have an acre of kitchen-garden, we can
very well spare half of it to grow roots for the cows and pigs. We do
not reckon labor in our expenses, as we must have had a gardener, even