26 OCTOBER 1918, Page 3

The Government's " Policy of the Pig " has fallen

into sad con- fusion, from which we think it ought to be rescued. At the beginning of the year the Government made a strong appeal to the nation to keep pigs, and a Director of Pig Production was ap- pointed. Most people know that pig-keeping is an extraordinarily rapid means of producing meat, and not only meat but a plentiful supply of fat. They set to work with enthusiasm to breed or to buy and to keep pigs. The Director of Pig Production was an enthusiast, and gave excellent advice and kept the enthusiasm ablaze. Thou- sands of tons of edible waste all over the country were saved froin destruction and given to the pigs. Cottagers far and wide rehabili- tated the old British legend of " every cottage its pig." Sties or shelters were hastily thrown up in back gardens in spite of the prodigious cost of wood, and the pig population of these islands increased enormously. In many villages one was reminded of Thomas Hood's words about the typical Irishman who made " a parlour boarder of a pig."