The Rugby gazette and east Tennessee news. (Rugby, Morgan Co., Tenn.) 1884-188?, 1886-12-25

Cold weather is not a profitable time
for pigs to be born, unless the owner has
a dry place for them, and where it is
warm enough not to freeze.
BY dry place is meant one free from
dampness, and not simply free from wa
ter or mud. Pigs will not do well in
damp atmosphere; they soon get a
cough and will not thrive. Pure air is
necessary foundation for healthy pigs,
aud so is cleanlincss; dirty pigs never
thrive. They should always be clean to
keep the pores open and the issues on
the inside Of the legs, which are organs
it will not do to neglect.
have tried the plan Of having pigs
born in winter in the large cellar under
meath the pig-house, but the pigs never
did well, although they had quite a
range on the bottom of the collar, and
all the roots and root-tops they wanted
The sunlight is almost Il necessity for
Il pig, aud they never grow 50 we'll us
when they can fill their stomachs with
suitable food and lie in the warm sun
on dry bed. This is real pig felicity,
and the fact should not be forgotten in
their case It is wise, therefore, in the
case of swine, to provide for dryness,
warmth and sunshine. Next in order is
the food.
The food must he according to cir
cumstaEces The mothers milk is the
best always. Next comes cows milk,
and asa supplementary to thesn, and
to take the place of them, a slop made
of fine wheat middlings, with house slop
Barley ground entire is perhaps as
good, but it is stronger, and must be
given in less bulk. For dry foo | nothing
is so good as oats. The little pigs al
ways do better il they are born in CT m
paratively warm weather, and they
certainly cost less. ! am opposed, as =
rule, to having any young animals
bora where they woaid get Chi led if
left alone. 1t is an unreasonable TINA,
aud in tue long. run Improbable. A
lamb costs twice as much to raise when
born in winter. and the eve shears
much less. 4 COW coming in long before
grass time mast have great deal Of
extra food to keep up the aow Of milk,
and so it is with SOW having pigs, be-,
sides the extra milk. A SOW will rear
litter of pigs when she has the run of
good pasture. OH half the food she will
require if she is deprived of this i'm
por,aut addition. The little pigs will not
get stunt, as they are almost certain
to do when'born in cold weather. [ have
sat up many night watching for pigs
and caring for them, but that time is
past, never to return. | want no pigs
until all risk of their getting chilled
is over.
1t Is not question, 50 far as profit is
concerned, how much pig will weigh
when dressed, as it is how much it has
cost. The success in hog rearing turns
on this one point If hogs cost more
than they will sell for, there is no good
in them, except the manure they will
make. and this may be very little, and
too often is.
To get any profit out Of the u>iness,
there must be the closest calculations
and reference to all the little details.
Feeding stunted pigs for two months
in cold weather is therefore quite an
item. Let The pigs me when the SOW
will car for herself, and get the major
part Of her food in the pasture. Fron
the first to the middle of May is the
time, and this would require the SOW
to be bred the same time in the month.
Of January, or in December. if the pig
are wanted in Apri'.--F. D. Curtis, il,
Cultivator & Country G,ntltnan.
1t will astonish many people vii,