Fattening Swine with Fern, or Brake (Pteris aquilina). Among the many curious and useful things which Mr. Babbage related to us was the following, which we give in his own words. "Walking over the estate one day in the spring, I saw a man and his family busily employed gathering the young shoots of fern. On enquiry I found it was to feed their pig. Having expressed a doubt as to its nutritious quality, the man said it was equal to potatoes, and that he would undertake to feed a pig with it alone, and at the end of a month produce the pig in as good condition as another pig that had been fed with potatoes. The way to prepare the fern is to boil (or rather simmer) it for two hours in an iron pot: when cold, it forms a strong jelly."
