Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1877-04-18
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Good Hog Pasture.

Man, farmers seem never to have
learned or to have forgotten that the
hog is grazing animal, and that it
can be kept chcapcrsand in better con-
dition during half the year on grass
and other green crops than on any
other kind of food. They keep their
hogs in pens, though they have q
great desire to get them out, and feed
them on corn, which requires large
amount of labor to raise, when the
hogs showed marked preference for
grass that grows without cultivation.
A hog is as much entitled to grass
during summer as cow is, and will
profit quite as much from II. As o
dairyman studies how to have . good
pasture for his milch cows, so raiser
of hogs should study how to have
good pasture for his breeding and
stock hogs. Too many farmers give
very little attention to the food their
hogs receive till it comes time to COM
mencc fattening them, when they are
impatient to stuff them with all they
can deyour. They seem to think that
1t is only necessary to give them
enough to keep them alive upto that
time.
A good hog pasture should contain
an acre of land for every five hogs,
taking them as they come. Clover
will produce the most food and the
kind of green food that is best relished
by swine. fit does not come for
ward very early in the spring, and as
it Is liable to suffer from the pro-
tracted drought that usually occurs
in midsummer, a hog pasture should
contain a plat of one Of the true
grasses. Orchard green is highly
praised by those who have raised it
for hog pasturage. 1t starts early
grows till late in the season, bears
frequent groupings, while it is ex-
ceedingfy' In Kentucky blue
grass is the favorite grass for hog
pasturage, AS it is well adapted to the
soil and climate. Glover does not do
well in the South, owing to the open
winters and the extreme heat during
summer. A hog pasture should be
sown SO that the grass will be cut one
year before the hogs are turned in, so
as to insure tolerably strong soil.
A good hog pasture should contain
living water. In the absence of it
there should be q well and pump. IT.
is by no means essential that hogs
have miro to wallow in, but it is an
excellent plan to have pool of water
in which they can wade during the
warm weather. If this cannot be
furnished there should be large
trough from which the animals can
drink at any time. A good shade is
of great Importance in raising hogs.
They cannot endure the hot sun dur
ing July and August without suffer
ing from the consequences. Several
large spreading trees, thickct of
bushes or spot occupied by bushes
which arc covered by vines will afford
an excellent retreat from the rays Of
the sun. 1t is cruelty to put hogs in
a pasture in which there is no natural
or artificial shade. If there are no
trees, rude sheds should be erected
and covered with poles and straw.
In laying out a place for hog pas
ture, provision should be made for
shade. The sheds may be erected for
temporary purposes, but trees should
be planted for the future. Cotton
woods will grow so fast that they will
afford excellent shade in a few years,
They thrive well on any of our prairie
soils, and may be easily obtained in
any portion Of the West. A grove of
crab apple trees affords a most dc.
lightful shade, while the fruit will be
of some value to the hogs. There is
nothing like good run among large
forest trees such as grow on the bot
tom lands in the West, for the pro-
duction of healthy hogs. In all the
reports of hog cholera that have
reached us, we have heard of no case
occurring on farms where the hogs
had a chance to run at will through q
forest and enjoy the advantages of
shade, mast, and the clear water of
running streams. Hogs raised in
such situations, have none of the ills
of hampered pigs, but are as healthy
as Sioux Indians on the banks Of fthc
Yellowstone.