St. Landry democrat., 1878-04-13
FARM AND HOME.
Paaurefor SWINE.

stand in their own light. TIE hog is {
grazing animal, and during the season
when grass supplies food for stock, he
will do better when kept on it than when
fed on anything else. On this topic
Prof Rodney Welch says in the Chicago
Times: A hog is as much entitled to
grass during summer as a cow is,
and will profit quite as much from it.
As: dairyman studies how to have a
good pasture for his milch coVs, 60 a
raiser of hogs should study how to have
good pasture for his breeds and stock
hogs. Too many farmers give very little
attention 10 the food their hogs receive
till it comes time to commence fattening
them, when they are impatient to stuff
them with all they can devour. They
seem to think it is only necessary to give
them enough to keep them alive up to
that time.
"a good hog pasture should contain
al acre of land for every FIVE hogs, tax
ing them as them come Clover will
produce the most feed and the kind of
green food that is best required by swine.
AZ it does not come forward very early
in the spring, and it is liable to suffer
from the protracted drouth that usually
occurs in midsummer, a hog pasture
should contain plat of one of the true
grasses. Orchard grasa Is highly priced
by those who have used it for hog pas
turage. 1t starts early, grows till late
in the summer, bears frequent groupings,
while it is exceedingly tender. In Ken
lucky blue grass is the fayorite grass for
hog past9rage, asit is well adapted to the
soil and climate. Clover does no do we'll
in the south, owing to the open winters
and the extreme heat during summers.
A hog>pasture should be sown 50 that the
grass will be cut one year before the hogs
are turned in, SO as to insure tolerably
strong turf.
" A good hog pasture should contain
live water. in the absence of it there
should be a we'll and pump. It is by no
means essential that hogs have mire to
waliow in, but it is an excellent plan to
have pool OF water 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 without suf-
fering from the consequences. Several
large, spreading trees, thicket of bushes,
car spot covered by bushes which are
covered by vines will afford an excel
lent retreat from the rays of the sun.
1t is cruelty to put hogs in 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 place for q
hog pasture, provision should be made for
shade. The sheds may be erected for
temporary purposes, but trees should be
planted for use in the future. Cotton
woods will grow SO fast that they will
afford excellent shade in 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 afford most delightful shade,
while the fruit will be of some value to
the hogs. There is nothing like a good
run among large forest trees such as
grow on the bottom lands of the west for
the production of healthy hogs. In all
the reports of hog cholera that have
reached US, we have heard of no cases
occurring on farms where the hogs had
chance to run at will through forest,
and enjoy the advantages of shade, mast,
and the clear water of running streams"