The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1871-07-27
Summer Management Of Hogs.


weather in their natural element. and are
then in the best condition to ward of dis
ease and rapid and profitable growth.
Many good swim breeders prefer not
to give their hogs any grain during the
Summer months leaving them to depend
entirely upon grass. But my experience
is, that there is no season of the year
when it pays better to feed grain to my
hogs. 1t then takes much less grain to
put them in market condition, and it al
SO takes much less time, enabling the far
mer to market his hogs early, before bad
weather, and before the glut in the mark
ct, and the decline in prices that usually
occur early in Winter.
Spring pigs which are designed for fat
tening should in this latitude see the
light the last of March or the first of April
to enable them to attain sufficient growth
to be made profitable There is no pro
fit in the feeding and growth of little
pig, or young one the advantages aris-
ing from the gain made where there is
age enough to eat more and cheaper food.
The farmer who raises pigs for roasters or
to cut up into quarters to sell like lambs,
does not use his stock to the best advan-
tage. If his feed is limited he had bet
ter reduce the number of months and feed
more and longer than to cut short by
slaughtering too young. Pork when
young and tender is lighter according to
the same bulk than when older and more
matured. This fact must not be lost sight
of, for what seemeth to be, is not 1t
would be well enough to work off lot of
late pigs in this way if it were not desr-
able to winter them. But for system
or practice, killing light pigs because they
will sell is not good sense nor good econ
omy. The gain and consequent profit on
pig after he will weigh two hundred
pounds or over is more than at any time
before that weight is made-hence tie
farmer who disposes of his pigs when they
have reached the avoirdupois of fifty or
one hundred pounds is not wise We say,
then, start the pigs early in the spring.
How to make them grow the fastest is
the next thing to consider. If the sows
are not required to produce another litter
the same year it would be best to let the
pigs suck so long as the mother will con-
tinue to give milk, and feed them at the
same time. IF this is practised the sow
must be fed all she will eat of succulent
food, of which barley makes best, with
regular allowance of shelled corn. The
pigs would grow faster if they could go
into pen where the sow could not follow,
with regular allowance of shelled corn
The pigs would grow fatter if they could
! 60 into pen where the sow could not
follow, and be fed milk mixed with wheat
middlings. We should advise removing
pigs from the mother at the end of three
months and confning them for few days
In pen until weaned, when they ought
to be allowed to 60 out upon the ground
and lie in the sun. We have fancy
they will do better if the sunshine can
fall upon them. If confined on a plank
floor they will often get stiff in their legs;
and then they do not have the healthful
influence Of the ground and chance to
doctor themselves, following the prescrip
tions of instinct and getting their medi-
cines from the labratory of nature.
Hogs are blessed with good digestion,
and can eat often, digesting their food
rapidly. When young they ought to be
fed every two hours, eating their mess up
clean. They should never be fed this
is one of the most injurious things which
can be done, as it makes them poddy and
weakness the appetite. Charcoal should
always be accessible, and if it is they will
eat considerable quantity. Sulphur is
good corrective, while washing in soap
suds at least once in two weeks is highly
beneficial. The washing is better than a
days feeding to promote growth and
healthfulness. Fermentation of feed
should not go on more than twelve hours
to have it palatable and healthy. Beyond
that point there is danger of putrefca-
ton, and of its becoming alcoholic, which
is no better for swine than man Keep
the pen clean and free from foul odors
give pig chance to be clean and he
will be. He may lie in the mud, but
that is a choice Of evils, and here he mani
tests more wisdom than many humans,
for piggy chooses the least, preferring the
coating of mud and its cooling effects to
the biting of the flies, which the mud
keeps off. Heavy, or hot feed like corn
and buckwheat, are not food for young
pigs. Too fine feed will not do either, but
there must be mixture of fine and course.
1t is just as important to keep the bowels
active and healthy as the stomachs, and
coarse food such as bran is required to do
it. The food, when ground, should be Of
the consistency Of drink, or SO that it may
be drank. Pigs often become stiff or
foundered from eating to much grain, and
when thus affected they are worthless, as
they will grow less rather than more, aud
| never knew one to recover. When pigs
are confined in pen or close yard bask-
ct of weeds from the garden will be
treat for them.-American Stock Jour
nal.