Prev | Current Page 190 | Next

Jenks, Albert Ernest, 1869-1953

"The Bontoc Igorot"


The Bontoc hog in many ways is a pampered pet. He is at all times kept
in a pen and fed regularly three times each day with camote vines
when in season, with camote parings, and small camotes available,
and with green vegetal matter, including pusleys, gathered by the
girls and women when there are no camote vines. All of his food is
carefully washed and cooked before it is given to him.
The pigsty consists of a pit in the earth about 4 feet deep, 5
or 6 feet wide, and 8 or 12 feet long. It is entirely lined with
bowlders, and the floor space consists of three sections of about
equal size. One end is two or more feet deeper than the other, and it
is into this lower space that the washings of the pen are stored in
the rotted straw and weeds, and from which the manure for fertilizer
is taken. The other end is covered over level with the outside earth
with timbers, stones, and dirt; it is the pig's bed and is entered
by a doorway in the stone wall. Most of these "beds" have a low,
grass roof about 30 inches high over them. Underneath the roof is an
opening in the earth where the people defecate. Connecting the "bed"
section and the opposite lower section of the sty is an incline on
which the stone "feed" troughs are located.


Pages:
178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202