Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1884-05-15
Pleasures For Pigs.

We are pleased to see disposition to
improve the sanitary condition of swine.
It is only within few years that swine
have been supposed in danger from any
sort of filth. In fact, some farmers have
acted as though they considered filth
necessary to the profitable thrift of the
pig. A pig-yard must include mud
hole for their health and comfort, says a
writer in the Stock Journal.
There is, probably, no part Of the far
mer's education so much neglected as
that relating to the sanitary effects of air
and water. He himself and his family
have suffered everything, even unto
death, from the want of knowledge. If
the water has been clear and sparkling,
he thought himself most fortunate, never
dreaming that death might Turk in it
from the teachings of the priVy or slop-
water sink. But as to his pig-yard, he
has usually sought the lowest place, so
that surface water would settle there and
furnish an excellent mud hole in dry
time. This is just the place to breed an
imal germs, which the pigs drinkin with
the filthy water, and in their stomachs
they soon quicken into life and activity.
The pigs become suddenly i'll, and the
owner wonders what can be the cause.
The slime and filth in which the pigs
wallow suggest nothing to explain the
cause to him.
It is said that the nature of the pigis to
wallOw in filth; but do those who say this
ever think how much man has to do in
educating the pig in it's filthy ways? Man
has kept him filthy so many hundred
generations, that it might be expected to
become an hereditary instinct. We think
it would take but a few generations, to
teach the pig the better way of cleanli-
ness and health.
But the important question is, can pig
feeders afford to keep their pigs in such
filth as breeds disease and death to their
herd? When pigs have such foul WalloW-
ings, they seldom get any pure water, and
the foul water communicates the blood,
and brings disease. It would be consid-
cred gross Encouragement for a dairy
man to allow his COWS to drink foul water.
It is known that it passes through the
blood of the COW into the milk, which
becomes unwholesome for butter or
cheese. And, as we eat the flesh of the
pig, why should not as great care be tax
en- to preserve his health as that of the
COW?
For cattle, farmers go to the trouble of
making troughs and pumping water into
them daily, where there are not clear,
running streams, or of conducting water
into them by pipes where spring ispos-
sessed high enough to admit of it. HUI
man dwellings are considered more
healthy when placed upon an elevation,
and so, likewise, should the swine house
be placed high enough to have all foul
matters run from it, instead of toward it.
We once tried an experiment to see if
pigs would use clean water in pasture in
warm weather, to cool themselves and
off "a tod C1oo
vat, ten inches deep, andsunk itsix inch
es in the earth, so that the pigs could
easily walk into it. This was filed half
full of clean, clear water.
The pigs would go into this vat and lie
down with the appearance of great COM
fort. This water was drawn off every two
days, and fresh water supplied. The pigs
not only used this water-vat, but aban-
doned a Water-hole some fifteen rods
from it, clearly showing their preference
for clean water. This vat was used for
several seasons, and always successfully.
And it would be entirely feasible to use
such watts for large herds, the expense be-
ing very little.
Modern improvements farm manage
ment will also make it the best economy
to have Pig-pens so constructed that the
manure, liquid and solid shall all be
most scrupulously saved; and this is best
done by a Slated floor that allows the
droppings to go through, thus always
keeping the pen clean. We have used
these self-cleaning pens, and find them a
great saving in labor, besides afording
pleasure in seeing clean pigs. The pig
pen should always be ventilated, and in
a way not to produce drafts or currents
of air. When farmers study to give pigs
as good air and water, and as Clearly
food as they do their other farm animals,
we shall hear less of cholera and other
swine diseases.