St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-03-13
CARE OF SWINE.
suggestions That Will Be Found
of Use to the Swine Grower.

Suggestions That Will Be Found
of Use to the Swine Grower.
If the general points given by the
writer in the following article were
carefully needed it would be money in
the pocket of many farmer. We quote
from the Swine Breeders Journal:
'There are two standpoints from
which this may be cOnsidered: The
management as now found on The
farms, and the management as it should
be. In our consideration of the first
point we shall speak of matters that
are commendable, as well as those
that are not. and the probabilities are
that the latter will receive the greatest
notice, for the faults Outnumber the
points that stand plainly above old Gus
toms.
AS rule the hogs on the farm re-
ceiYe the poorest care of any other
stock. Men that have fat and sleek
horses, that are fed regularly-catte,
young and old, in the finest condition,
are careless, in many instances, i'll
their care of swine. They may rouse
up to a little extra care at littering
time, and soon relax to old care
less ways till towards fall, when
new corn is i'll sight for feed. when
their energy takes new boom, and
their hogs get "killing attention. in the
shape of too much new corn. And yet
these men complain of poor success
with hOgsl When they are down in
price they get rid of their stock; when
up, they stock up, both of which steps
are iniudicious and costly.
Again. a serious fault lies with many
men to carry too many and not crowd
ing to market quick enough. They
have fine lot of early spring pigs that
are summered in the usual way-to
make bone without any noticeable fat:
the sOws are bred for fall filters, and the
probabilities are that these will outnum-
Der the spring narrowing. When
they are farrowed the spring pigs are
not one-half the size they should be.
The consequence Is, for half the winter
spring lot should 90 to market about the
time the fall pigs begin to eat and need
the farmers constant and regular care.
When both lots are together on the
farm the danger from disease is in
creased. If it strikes early in the win
ter the healthy ones cannot be mar
keted, because too thin.
1t is not often the case that both lots
receive the care they should. The older
have the best care, and food that suits
tn cir age the best, because nearer mar
ket, and it is more convenient to feed
whole corn than to slop, which young
pigs, starting, should always have.
1t is not advisable for any farmer to
attempt to raise two litterS year, I'M
less both are given the best attention,
and crowded to the earliest possible
market. There is more risk in crowd
ing and overstocking with hogs than
any other stock of the farm.
Another evil is the practice of feed
ing too many sizes together-old sows,
stockers and pigs-with the result of
none of them securing the kind of feed
and the amount they should have. 1t
requires no great deal of care to have
the sows farrow about the same time.
and when this is the case twice year
it is easy to feed the two filters sep
arate. The almost universal custom of
feeding on the ground is not COM
mendable. one. Hogs thrive so much
better when fed on a floor that can be
swept of dust and litter as occasion de-
mandS, and there is hardly farm in
any community that has been operated
few years but what there are a suffi-
cient number of old plank lying about
to make feeding floor for the hogs. If
not, the expense incurred to secure new
plank is trifling compared with the ben
eft to be derived from their use.
1t is but little trouble to find feed lots
that have been in use for years on some
farms, selected with view of having
them always dry and clean-sOme high