The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1893-11-23
Little Attention to Swine.
Western Rural,1

Western Rural.1
The most profitable farm product the
American producer has found has been,
and is now, in the hog. There are
| good authorities who claim that the
price of pork will never again fall
much below present current rates aud
base their calculations upon the limita-
tons of pork production and a con-
stantly increasing demand. 1t is as
sumed, however, that the corn belt
limit really measures the possibilities
Of swine production, which is not quite
true, though it is true that practically
all Of the best corn growing regions Of
this continent are already occupied.
There is one feature of the question,
however, which is not generally recog-
nized but which is an important factor
as it relates to the future supply and
the proftableness Of the industry. That
is the character of the foods and the
manner of feeding which are essential
to the maintenance of health in the an
imal and to the production Of the best
article Of pork which can be made,
must be studied by farmers in the
future with more care than they have
given the subject in the past. The
great drawback has been the preya-
lence and the fatality of disease COM
monty called cholera. Those condi-
tions which are apparent and which
are termed disease in the diagnosis of
case of hog cholera are but the symp-
toms. The first cause or seat of the
disease lies deeper and when the nee
essary means are applied to remove
the cause the symptoms or effects will
disappear. In our own experience on
the farm we found that too much corn
was the prime cause Of the trouble.
Corn is composed of starch or carbon
and furnishes but little nourishment to
promote the growth of the bone and
muscle, in which lie the vital energies
of animal life, but on the other hand it
tends to load up the animal with the
adipose matter favorable to disease.
The only barrier nature sets up is to
weaken the power Of assimilation, to
save the hog from his ravenous desire
for corn, and he gradually grows thin
after the lapse of a very few months
devotion wholly to it's use by his in
ability to utilize it. The system be-
comes feverish and dry and constipa-
ton sets in and the trouble begins.
Parasites of all kinds make inroads be-
cause the barriers are down by weak
ened vitality.
To build up and strengthen the sys-
tenn should be the first aim as the ma
chine which is competent to convert the
raw material into pork must be kept
in good repair. To accomplish this
the proper food elements should be
supplied in proper proportions, among
the most important of which are the
protein contents such as are found in
liberal quantities in clover, oats, peas,
roots, mill stutfs and oil meal. These
elements should compose the larger
proportions for young stock or breed
ing animals and the preponderance of
corn fed only for the finishing for the
butchers block. A few have succeeded
with hogs in making large profits, but
the majority have not been rewarded
as they might have been had they given
the subject the attention it deserves.
Judging the future by the past, we be-
lieve that the prediction may be safely
made that from now on no branch Of
agriculture will yield the handsome re-
turns which the swine industry will
give those willing to comply with the
laws which are revealed by scientific
study Of the subject of swine hus-
bandry. A scientist is one who searches
often and knows the truth. In this
sense all farmers should be scientists
and must be of necessity in this pro-
gressive age. It is a survival of the
fittest with the hog as long as he is left
subject to the fatalities which beset
him during his brief existence and so
it is with the farmer and will be as
long as he goes it blindly into the jaws
of violated laws in the management of
his domestic animals.