The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-10-03


'eNhat viii prevent hog chOlera?" If he
had asked what would cure 1t, I should
not attempt TO answer, for I have no
faith whatever in any of the so-called
cholera cures, and would about as soon
shear a hog for wool as to attempt to
dose II with medicine. believe that the
hog, properly bred and wisely fed, IS the
healthiest of all farm animals, and II
this is not true the race would long since
have become extinct, for no other farm
animal has been treated with so little
wisdom How long would a horse or
COW keep well and thrive If shut up in
a box-staI and stuffed with such an I'M
balanced fat and heat-producing food as
corn? And a hog requires exercise, and
bulk and variety In food, just as much as
envy other animal. have been thorough
~ familiar with the hog from my boy
hood, having lived IN the Miami valley
since 1888, years before hog cholera was
known, and have been raising hogs for
more than thirty-flve years in region
that has been ravaged by hog cholera,
and I have carefully studied both the
animal and the disease In all these
years I have lost but two hogs from
cholera, and but once had it on my farm
while on farms adjoining mine frequent
Nv the disease ms dlIlOSN sllllAllAlotCA tic
herds.
Feed Too Much Corn.
reached the conclusion more than
twenty years ago that two things were
responsible for the devastation of hog
cholera: % for many generations 1t was
the almost universal practice to breed
from young sows They were bred at
seven OF eight months old, raised one
litter and then were fattened, and l have
no doubt that this produced in time hogs
with impaired constitutions % The uni
versal food of hogs in this great corn
producing region has been corn. The pigs
were raised corn. the s1ws were win
tered on corn when carrying tnelr htters
and flttened on corn alone, and as this
Is a food especially calculated 20 produce
fat and heat, and which does not develop
good bone and muscle, il is little Won
der that IL finally impaired the cOnSutu-
ton Of the animal so as to invite dis
casa. I believe all that saved the race
from becoming extinct was the clover
fields. on which it was found that hogs
could be kept with profit through the
summer. For many years past there has
been a change in the mana cement in one
respect, so that now nearly all the pigs
are raised from mature mothers, and now
to secure hogs hardy enough to resist
the cholera germ one thing more is nee
essaTy. and that is hygenic feeding.
There might be some excuse for the plan
So commonly followed Of feeding corn If
IL were economical, but the fact is that
usually IL IS much cheaper to give such
foods as will insure a healthy animal
than to feed corn. If you viii get a good
work on agricultural chemistry and look
at the tables Of albuminoid rati0s, you
will find that corn is 1 TO shat IS, corn
contains but one pound OF what is known
as iesh-formers to nine Of fat and heat
producers.
While this is a very good proportion for
o. -, .v., nr,ft,, Al fs
too low a ratio to be most safe and profit
able for hogs. as l 10 has been found
right for fattening them In my own eX-
pertence I have always found that can
make cheaper pork, and keep the hogs
thrifty and gaining for a longer period,
when / feed them literally with some
bulky food with a high albuminoid ratio.
and for this purpose have found bran
and pumpkins two Of the best and cheap
est Of foods. Bran has a ratio of l to
AZ and pumpkins of 1 to 3.3, and by COM
binng these with corn we increase the
bulk of the food and improve its digesti-
bility. To make a healthy pig that vii.
give good returns for the food given dur
ing the fattening process, and one that
will not be subject to disease, we must
give the young pig diet with rather
high albuninOid ratio, and about 1 to 3
has been determined TO be the best. Every
farmer knows that he can make a large
growth and develop @ thrifty pig when he
has plenty Of milk TO feed, and milk has
a EdLlU OF / 10 30. lnG ltDSLQ OF IlIe
that a pig should be fed on the bone and
muscle-forming foods depends somewhat
on the age at which IL is 10 be fattened,
but 1 should advise not less than four
months. and II the pig is not TO be mar
keted until nine or ten months old l would
keep It until six months old on a diet
with but a moderate quantity OF corn in
II. A pig that has been fed so as to de-
velop a good frame and strong vital or
gans can be fed safely on corn alone for
a period Of about one hundred days, but
/ believe It will be fed more economically
and can be fed safely and profitable for a
longer period If a moderate quantity of
bran or pumpkins can be fed with the
corn. We must not overlook the fact that
to have pigs with a constitution TO resist
disease we must begin before the pig is
born. The food and care of the sow dur
ing the period Of CESSATION has much to
do with the vigor Of the pigs. I have a
friend, who for many years, has been pro-
ducing pig pork, breeding twenty-five
sows and selling the pigs at six months
old. and after he began wintering his sows
on beets for the bulk Of their diet he
found a great increase in the vigor Of the
pigs and a much smaller percentage of
loss.
wild Turnips Cheap and Good Food.
While turnips are not quite so palatable
% hogs as beets, they are fully as valua-
BILE and they will soon learn TO eat them
readily, as they can be grown as a catch
crop without cultivation and can often
be grown and fitted for cents a bushel
In addition TO attention TO the food the
farmer who would have thrifty profitable
hogs should see to it that in winter they
have a clean, dry bed, which should be
changed often enough to prevent 1t be-
coming dusty. Not too many hogs should
be allowed to sleep together, especially
brood sOws, and large and small should
not be kept in the same house If you
have a neighbor whose farm lies higher
than yours, 50 that water flows through
your farm from his, do not allow your
hogs access to it when his hogs are dis
eased, for while a hog that is fed as
to have a healthy stomach is not at all
likely to take cholera, even though it
swallows the germs, / would not know
ingly expose them 70 1t.
AS some Of my readers may doubt that
the constitution Of the hog can be so IA
vOrably affected by its food and care. as
] state, l viii say that this question has
been settled by careful experiments, by
feeding half of a litter of pigs on corn
and the other half on such ration
recommend, and then carefully dissecting
the animals, weighing the blood and all
the vital organs. and crushing the bones
in a testing machine, and the difference
In the development of heart, lungs. kid
neys and blood was largely in favor OF
the animals fed for lean, and the bones
- Of oh,