Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1867-12-13
FatteuInE Hogs.

The first consideration with those who
desire to fatten hogs economically, is to
provide them with pens well protected
from the south and southwest winds, in
which they will have comfoTtable sleeping
apartments 1t is rather late in the sea-
son, but the following suggestions from the
agricultural editor of the Cincinnati En-
quirer are worth preserving for another
year, if they do not come in time for the
present
In the first place, prepare a good warm
housefor your hogs and supply them plen-
tifully with dry straw for beds. He who
expects TO fatten hogs 30 as to realize
profit, must do it economically for they
who do not economic in feeding hogs will
End themselves undersold in the market,
and their labor thrown away. The idea,
if entertained by any person, that hogs ext
posed 10 the cold rains of autumn, and
sleeping uncomfortably. will thrive and
fatten as they would in comfortable quar-
tiers, is preposterous /; and the too general
practice Of putting hogs TO fatten in pen
built Of rails or poles, open to wind and
weather, cannot be too strongly reprobated
by the economist.
Experiments have proved that hogs
properly managed can be fatteDed, and an
equal quantity Of pork made, on half the
grain generally used. After furnishing
your hogs with warm pens and good beds.
judicious feeding will be found matter OF
great economy.
In feeding hogs it is not necessary to give
them what they like best, but is necessary
TO give them what they viii eat freely.
Boiled potatoes, for example, hogs will eat
freely; but il would be downright waste 10
feed potatoes at the present relative price
of potatoes and corn. In feeding hogs, the
relative price of food should be compared,
and the articles that will make the most
pork, at the least cost. fed.
In the Western country, az general rule,
corn will be relied on, and the best method
Of feeding it becomes a matter Of great in.-
portance as pork is the great staple Of this
section of the West. We suppose a man
would live on raw corn, but il certainly
never has been used as al article of food,
while mush, or corn pudding, is extensive
ly used, and found to be an excellent food.
In food for hogs the same relative value ex-
lists between whole corn and mush, as IN
food for man, and farmers will ind great
saving by having their corn ground and
boiled. Hogs, while fattening for market,
as well as previous, require a plentiful
supply of salt. This want many farmers
are very negligent in supplying. II you
boil your meal, put salt in the mush; IL
makes il more palatable; hogs will eat it
better, and YOU willbe richly rewardedin the
increased weight Of your pork aud lard. In
the Western country, boiling cornmeal is
attended With but little trouble or expense.
Wood, as a general rule, has in the coun-
try no value, only the labor necessary for
preparing it for the FIRE; and in many cases
that is not entirely thrown away, as farmers
are clearing off the land. The sugar ket-
tlus which very many farmers hsve, would
answer we'll for boiling the cornmeal.
Every farmer should build furnace
convenient to his hog pen, where the mush
can be conveniently passed from the kettle
TO the hog-trough, and the pen should be
as convenient TO water as circumstances
will allow. Thus prepared for feeding
hogs, but little more labor will be required
than in the usual method, and almost
double the quantity Of pork can be made
IN THIS way, tnat can De mace ii lne nOSs
are fed whole corn and exposed TO the cold
rains, bleak winds, and frosts of autumn,
The use OF the pen and furnace will not be
confined to the season of fatteniDg hogs; i
will be found very convenient fer sows
with their young broods The after-growth
Of hog depends greatly on the condition
the pig has been kept in, and 70 keep pil
we'll, every farmer knows the SOW has &c
be we'll kept; and boiled meal and slop i
much better for her than dry corn. We Dc
not recommend that sows should be con
Gned to a pen in the summer-at larg'
they get various condiments necessary for
their health. bat 10 return from this di
erosion. Hogs, when fattening, should b
snpplied with water; slop and milk arr
mnch better. and should be given TO ih'
extent they can be furnished. We assert
without fear OF contradiction, that almoss
double the quantity Of pork that is mad'
could be made on the quantity Of corn nov
fed to hogs, were that corn properly
managed, the stockproperly cared ioT, ans
supplied with good pasture IN the sun'ine
when there is no mast.