The Pig That Pays the Bills: How Swine Became Puget Sound’s Secret Wealth

THE BIGEAN BEAST. SOMETHING ABOUT THE BREEDING OF SWINE. A NEVER-FAILING SOURCE OF REVENUE

Since the herd of swine 'rushed down the steep place and perished miserably in the waters,' there has been a certain antipathy entertainable against the porcine race. This is not peculiar to the Hebrew race, but even to the more cultured nations of Europe. The Frenchman finds no term of contempt to apply to an enemy worse than 'cochon' which he rings out with a nasal sneer unapproachable to any other nationality. The drawling, yawping Missourian calls his adversary 'hawg,' whenever he gets the worst of an argument. In our opinion, the only one who pays proper respect to the pig, is the Irishman, who never alludes to him as a hog. Yet the pig is a character in his way, and a never-failing source of revenue to his master.

Go through Southern Oregon, especially along the Coquille and Rogue rivers, and you will find a people who don't average a meal of beef or mutton twice a month. When they can kill a deer, they have venison on their tables; and when there are no deer, then they fall back upon swine flesh. What would those people do if there were no swine? It was a mistake to export Millions of dollars have been sent away for hams, bacon and lard, that could have been kept here, had men been foresighted enough to take up swamp land, drain it and plant wheat or barley on which hogs would fatten among the stubble, after the crop was removed.

And unless wheat is worth ninety cents per bushel, it will pay a farmer better to turn in his hogs on the standing crop, than to pay the expense of reaping, threshing, sacking, storage, freight and insurance. Swine are always a Cash article in the markets of Seattle, Olympia, and Victoria, as they have been mostly driven heretofore from the Yakima valley to the seaboard. But now Lewis county is coming in with her productions in this line, with a yield of $30,000 worth for the present year, which is no bad sign for a little county which polls only 375 votes.

The scarcity of hogs has been visibly felt on the great body of reclaimed land lying about THE SKAGIT FLATS. During the past season, Farmers had to leave grain on the ground and could buy no lean hogs to eat it up. These rooters from Lewis and Vallejo 'razor backs,' would have been sold at fabulous figures if landed on the delta of the Skagit. What few hogs have been fattened there have found easy sale either at Port Townsend or Seattle, for the highest market rates.

But it is no vague estimate to say that three thousand head of hogs could have been fattened there on wheat that has gone to waste for want of swine to eat it. The stock hogs can be let to run about the marshes and in the woods until after harvest time, when they can be turned in upon the stubble to eat themselves fat and their owner rich.

The largest swine we have seen hereabouts are a cross between the Suffolk and Chester, bred by Arthur Phinney, of Port Ludlow. He seems to take as much pride in his pigs as Robert Bonner does in his horses. Among his collection is the imported boar, Roger Bacon, which weighs 800 pounds; and from him are bred the most of his stock. He also has seven sows weighing over 500 pounds each.