Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1884-12-11
STOCK FOR poor FARMERS.

| STOCK FOR POOR FARMERS.
The MOSS Prontable Animals f0r FarnAsuu
# snaAu Means to Raiss.
/ In the great majority Of cases hogs
are the most profitable animals Tor
farmers Of small means to raise. They
can get returns from them quicker than
from horses, cattle and sheep. and this
is most important consideration Pigs
dropped early in the spring can be
made to weigh two hundred pounds
each by midWinter, when pork IS in the
greatest demand. Horses can not be
sold to persons who desire them for
work till they are about four years old.
| Few farmers of small means can wait
that length of time for pay for their la
| Dor and farm products. Calves OF the
best breeds that have excellent shelter,
pastures of tame grass and clover, and
| plenty of grain, may be put IN good
condition for the butcher when they
| are thirty months old. Farmers OF
| small means, however, and especially
| those who live in section OF the coun-
| try that is newly settled, have not the
| facilities for fitting cattle for the mar
| ket at so early an age. They generally
have poor shelters for their stock or
none at all. They have nothing but
wild grass to furnish pasturage or hay.
| They cannot easily obtain animals OF
| improved breeds to keep. They may
| keep sheep to better advantage, as they
can obtain money from the sales of
| their fieeces when the lambs are one
| r-o al aJSn coll
early lambs in the fall. It requires
considerable capital, however, to get a
good start with sheep. The purchase
of fifty ewes and one buck calls for
| more than a poor man who is paying
for his place and supporting a family
can raise He can, however, obtain
half dozen sows with pigs, and from
them raise sufficient pork to meet his
| financial wants. Pigs multiply SO
quickly that the expense of getting a
large number is slight. The breed can
be improved in a short time and at,
small cost.
It costs less to provide suitable shell
ter for hogs than for any ether animals
kept on farms. During the season of
quite cold weather they require to be
kept dry and warm, but shelters may
be built for them of very cheap materi-
ais. 1t is not necessary to employ me-.
chanics to put up buildings to protect
hogs. The walls may be built of logs,
stone, or very cheap lumber. The roof
may be covered with straw laid on
poles. If the drainage is good no floor
is needed. A larger number of farm
products may be utilized by feeding
them to hogs than to other animals.
They will gain during the summer if
they have plenty of clover or tender
grass. They will eat and derive benefit
from ali kinds ofgrain, vegetables, fruit
and milk from which no use can be
made They will eat nuts and wild
plants, and will devour vermin. Less
labor is required to harvest and pre-
pare food for hogs than for other ami
mails. They viii dig artichokes as they
require them for food. They will shell
corn from the cob and eat the heads of
all the small grains. They are less
particular than other animals about the
way their food is prepared. The hog
is not a dainty animal.
No very expensive machinery is re-
quired ON farm that is chiefly devoted
to the raising of hogs. There is no oc-
casion for spending money for thrash
ing In sections where corn does well
it will be likely to be the leading crop
raised for fattening hogs. Only pillow
and cultivator are required for raising
this crop. 1t can be harvested by the
use of hand tools and fed without being
shelled. The same tools are all that
are required for raising artichokes or
potatoes. The special machinery re-
quired on farm chiefly devoted to the
production of wheat will cost more
than all the tools needed on a farm of
the same size that is devoted to the
raising of hogs, and the animals neces-
sary to stock it.
There is little trouble about market
ing hogs in any part OF the West.
There are buyers in almost every town
that has railway station or steam
boat landing. A farmer can change
hogs into money quicker than he can
wool. Hogs can be slaughtered,
packed and held for rise in the mar
ket much easier than beef or mutton.
Beef and mutton bring the highest price
when they are in the fresh state, but
pork brings more after it is cured.
Nearly every farmer who desires and
has the means to do so can sell his hog
products at home directly to consum-
ers some time during the year. The
practice of selling nearly all the hogs
in neighborhood alive as soon as they
are fattened andof taking them to some
large city to be slaughtered and packed,
has become so common that there is
rarely pork enough left in a hog-rais
ing district to supply the inhabitants.
Every spring and summer large guam
titles, not only of lard, hams and bacon,
but picked pork are sent from this city
to the districts from which the hogs
that produced them came. Many farm
ers who have the means to wait six
months will in many cases be large
gamers by slaughtering their hogs,
curing the meat and trying out the lard
and keeping them to supply the local
demand; which will be brisk in the
course of few months after the time
hogs are ordinarily sold. = Chicago
Times.