The practice, and the woodland used for it, is called pannage. Somebody below pointed out that it's still done in the New Forest in England. You used to have t

The practice, and the woodland used for it, is called pannage. Somebody below pointed out that it's still done in the New Forest in England. You used to have the right to fatten your pigs by letting them go root around in the forest during the late summer/early autumn. Pigs can eat acorns and beechmast just fine without processing; and in the late fall they get brought in and slaughtered. This also keeps underbrush down, fertilizes the forest floor, and is less smelly than keeping the pigs confined. Nicer for the pigs, too. There are lots of places around New England called "hog island", which was usually the place the farmer would row the pigs out to-uninhabited, and filled with oaks and beeches. Pigs are unwilling to swim too far from shore, keeping them on the island (and away from crops!) until bacon time. (Here is an article touching on the practice of pannage, and how it was related to the first indian wars in New England, as well as the Hog Island that I grew up near!) https://www.sjsu.edu/people/ruma.chopra/courses/h170_MW_S13/s2/Bonus_Pigs_Conflict.pdf https://www.sjsu.edu/people/ruma.chopra/courses/h170_MW_S13/...