Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1889-05-31
RAISING HOGS.

to the American people, the object of the
farmer should be to produce the greatest
amount of good pork at the least ex-
pense. The question then is, how can
this be done? [ will endeavor to answer
this knotty question. First procure some
pure bred soWs of some well-established
black breed, and mate them with males
not too closely connected, but of pure
stock. Have the sows farrow in Septem-
Der or October. Feed them literally on
slop from the kitchen, with all the milk
in it you can spare; have your troughs
made shallow, so the pigs can get taste,
and they will soon learn to drink until
full When cold weather comes, enrich
your slop by adding bran and boiled po-
tatOes. The small and defective ones,
which you should sort out at digging
time, will pay good profit if fed in tbs
way to your pigs. If you have apples to
spare, or those which are beginning to
decay, put them into your slop, with tur-
nip Feelings, cabbage refuse, or anything
hog will relish; ne likes variety.
AS the cold increases, the slop should
have some scalded meal in it. If fed in
this way until clover is ready to turn in
on, the shoats should be growing finely.
Let them remain in the clover until har
vest. If you have an orchard Ghe larger
the better SOW it to oats, when the grain
is ripe turn your shoats in, and you will
see that this feed will develop their bone
and muscle. By the time the oats are
disposed of your early apples should be
ready; then your summer and fall va
rieties will follow, and if you have plenty
of sweet apples (Which you should) in
your orchard, you will be astonished
to see how your shoats will thrive on
them.
I have come to the conclusion that ap-
pies Especially sweet ones) with a little
corn meal and potato slop, is the cheap
est and best feed for preparing hog for
the slaughter house. By the time your
pigs are a year or fourteen months old
they should be ready for the market, and
their weights should be satisfactory.
The reason why [ prefer to have the
pigs to come in the fall rather than in the
spring, is, that during winter the farmer
has more leisure time to get his pigs up
first class boarding house, with extra in
expensive rations, and he has a longer
time to change sucking pig into three
hundred pound porker, and SO is not
compelled to resort to the forcing system
at q busy time of the year, as he is when
he makes an April pig weigh three hun
dred pounds by Thanksgiving. Another
advantage in having a hog a year old,
when called upon to ''die for his coun-
try" is, that during the last six weeks of
his life he takes on fat more readily, and
when slaughtered his yield of lard is sat
isfactory. Whereas at six months old,
although fat, nature is still striving to pro-
duce more bone and muscle instead of fat,
because the pig has not yet come to
maturity. The reason why I prefer a
back or dark spotted hog to a white one
is, that when pigs they seem to be less
liable to have the mango in winter. Pigs
are very social creatures, and they will
pile up when cold, and so get dirty and
hot. Too much filth and heat is,
think, the cause of the mango, and when
a white pig gets rusty and his hair stands
erect, his progress toward development is
slow, and his end is near at hand.
Whereas, his more swarthy brother seems
to grow notwithstanding his unfavorable
surroundings.
Corn cob asrc5 mixed v.tl So. should
be given to hogs to keep them healthy.
To sum up, feed slop and cooked po-
tatoes in winter and early spring, then
clover, oats and apples, tho more sweet
apples the better, giving the finishing
touch to his hogship with few bushels
of corn meal mixed with butter1nilk If
he does not then make good pork I will
agree to eat him if you will give me time
enough. -EGrna, F;c!1 and .ct0cEmaa.