and contains, morcover, a treatise upon swine, by Sanford Howard, of unusual value.

The point about to be mentioned, taken from the report referred to, is discussed by another writer. This writer starts the idea, and refers to "Giles, in Philosophical Transactions for 1821," as an authority for the theory, that the male by whom the female is destined to receive her first progeny stamps a character upon every subsequent produce, even by other males! As no facts are cited in support of this theory, it will be doubted by many, of course. If, however, it should have the effect of inducing those having valuable sows to be careful in selecting the boar to which the young sow shall go for the first time, the hint will not be lost. And to apply the rule in our county, it would seem a clear case, that if those having large-framed sows of any breed, and living within a reasonable distance of a pure-blooded Suffolk, would take the pains to carry them to such boars, they would be well compensated by the extra price they would obtain for their pigs, or by the quantity and quality of the pork, if they should keep them or sell them at market.

DAVID CHOATE, Chairman.

HAMPDEN.

From the Report of the Committee.

In discharging the duties assigned us, your committee are aware of the prejudice in many minds in favor of different breeds of swine; yet, conceding to every breed its just merit, and to every man's opinion all that is due, we claim for ourselves no exemption from like preferences. Our prejudice, however, instead of favoring any particular one, is against all swinish breeds as food for man, especially in consequence of its known injurious effects upon scrofulous systems. With this frank and respectful deference to the judgment of all who may differ from us, the society, we trust, will bear with us in the free expression of our own belief. While we are compelled. from necessity to decide against the use of pork as a prominent article of food for ourselves, we are quite ready to waive

our private opinion for the gratification of those who can use it with apparent impunity, because we know it to be for our pecuniary interest as farmers to keep and deal in swine. Hence our position will favorably aid us in drawing an impartial portraiture of character.

The hog is reputedly a dirty, loathsome, greedy animal; though often made so, not by choice, but by the manner in which he is kept. He is often reared, too, simply because it can be done so cheaply. Being a voracious animal, he greedily devours bugs, worms and carrion, and is turned off with the trash from orchard and garden, with the refuse scraps of the kitchen, the sweepings of the barn, and offal of the market. Absorbing such ingredients, it is by no means a wonder that his flesh is rejected by Grahamite epicures. His organs of digestion are powerful; and to the extent and perfection of these, and of his respiratory powers, he is indebted for his loathsome voraciousness. And may not his filthy habits be in a great measure accounted for from the fact that his sense of touch is so very acute, rendering heat extremely oppressive, and the least contact from insects equally annoying-thus inducing a resort to water for the purpose of cooling himself, and to a coat of mud for self-protection? Adapting himself to every variety of climate, being in this respect a perfect cosmopolite, a citizen at large, coming to maturity early, and being easily improved by the breeder, he is more quickly rendered suitable to the purposes required than any other description of live stock. From no other source can the poor man so readily supply his table with meat; and no branch of farm husbandry pays so well for the required care and attention as the raising and fattening of swine for the market. Young porklings are always lively, happy, and full of innocent sport; and in their little domestic arrangements each chooses his teat, and ever after retains possession of it, the compact (which is always more faithfully maintained than in the human family) providing that every one shall keep on his own territory, without abrogation or compromise-a regimen under which they attain about as high a scale of mutual courtesy and regard as do some of the human race; for, with the latter, might too often makes right. Such, briefly, is the minority of

porkdom; but the exact period at which a pig becomes of age, or, in other words, a hog, has never been decided; though from early infancy his hoggish propensities, like those of some persons we wot of, are considerably developed.

According to medical men, scrofula means "little pig;" and it is well known that pork is difficult of digestion, and liable to produce cutaneous diseases, especially in scrofulous systems, and persons thus circumstanced crave it continually. Pork was much used by the Jews; yet they seemed to understand its effect upon the system; for, by the stringent laws of Moses, it was strictly forbidden in cases of leprosy-that being a disease of the skin. Some have considered it more healthy to eat pork in winter than in summer, in cold climates than in warm; and there is a reason for it. Physicians say that the constant use of pork in warm weather tends to produce bilious complaints; but in cold weather the system requires more carbon than in warm, in order to keep up the proper degree of animal heat; and oily substances of every description contain a large proportion of carbon, as do wood, charcoal, and other combustible materials. The union of carbon and oxygen creates heat; and it matters not whether that union is conducted in the fireplace and lampwick, or in the lungs of animals or human beings. In either case the action (the union of the carbon, in the wood, oil and blood, with the oxygen of the air) and the result (the production of heat) are one and the same. the Esquimaux quaffs his liquid whale oil with apparent gusto; his system requires it, and his lamp of life will not continue to burn without it. And like the lampwick, which is so saturated with oil that it will flicker and soon be extinguished, is the man who, in warm climates or in warm weather, loads his stomach with greasy pork, that will either not digest, producing dyspepsia, or, if digesting, will so overcharge the blood with carbon that the oxygen of the air in the lungs cannot in any manner unite with it. Hence it is that impurities inevitably collect in the lungs, causing consumption, while the blood is returned to the system in an impure state, producing diseases of all kinds. Thus much of medical comment.

Hence

If swine are allowed to feed on grass, without much other nutriment, the effect of constantly reaching down is to lengthen

the snout; and following the law of habit, by which a limb is increased in length and strength in proportion as it is exercised, Lamarck, an infidel philosopher, would seem to have had some slight foundation for his theory of the development of creation, according to which man was first a clam, and, after passing through different grades of improvement, emerged at last from the monkey and orang outang into a full-grown specimen of humanity; and the elephant, which was first a mouse, transmigrated through successive generations, and finally assumed the form of a hog, from which, with his tusks and snout lengthened by continually feeding on herbs, and his size increased by favorable climate and luxuriant living, he has now become an elephantine monster! In a wild state the hog has been known to live thirty years; but in domesticated existence he is usually killed at two years of age. In referring to history, we find the wild boar was a very common inhabitant of the forest in the British isles previous to the civil wars. From him probably all the different varieties now in those islands have originated. The principal English breeds have been named after the counties in which they have been chiefly raised, as the Berkshire, Essex, Suffolk, &c. The Chinese and improved Suffolk are best adapted for table pork; the Norfolk and some others, among them those which we call natives, are more suited for bacon.

The improved Suffolk originated in a cross of the Chinese and Berkshire with the old Suffolk-a large-boned, long-eared, coarse hog; the cross with the Berkshire having hair, and that with the Chinese having comparatively none. The improved Suffolk are often rejected because judged of by the old breed, (as are the improved Devonshire cattle ;) while their good qualities are overlooked, or not acknowledged, by persons thus prejudiced. There is perhaps no better breed than the Suffolk for our New England farmers. Animals from this stock are well formed, compact, prolific, and very hardy. They are easily kept in fine condition, and fatten readily while young. If they attain less size and weight than other breeds, they also consume less food. It is a question, whether the amount of food required to make five hundred pounds of pork in a large hog would, if fed to two Suffolks, make as much or more in

weight. The experiment could easily be tried; and would it not be well for our agricultural societies to encourage such experiments, not only with the different breeds of swine, but with all other stock, especially cattle? It is also a question, to be answered by experiment, whether more beef cannot be made from Devons by the use of a certain amount of food than from any other breed. And the same proposition applies with equal pertinence to the rearing of Suffolk pigs.

The consumption of pork in the United States far exceeds that of any other country, to say nothing of the large amounts exported a fact which has, and should in future, stimulate much attention to the improvement of swine. In 1840, the number of swine in the United States was 26,300,000. Tennessee had more than any other State, her number being over 2,900,000; Ohio had over 2,000,000; New York over 1,900,000; and all the New England States combined only 850,000. In 1850, there were 30,315,700 swine in the United States. Tennessee had over 3,100,000; Kentucky over 2,800,000, standing second on the list; Ohio and New York had not increased; and the New England States had decreased, and probably stand now in the same proportion. Taking the average at $10 per head, the value of the hogs in the United States would be $303,157,000—certainly an item of sufficient importance to encourage increased enterprise and effort among growers of this class of stock.

In awarding premiums on this occasion, we have estimated the combined qualities of the several animals presented, the various breeds having distinct points adapting them to different uses and for different markets; and where these were all embraced in one class, the committee found it no ordinary task to arrive at just conclusions. Aware that persons entertaining diverse opinions and prejudices, as in times past, would perhaps have decided differently, we feel relieved from exposure to any just accusation of partiality. What we have accomplished we have done with the best intentions to serve the society and promote the interests of agriculture.

H. M. SESSIONS, Chairman.