St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1895-02-02
practice, most unfortunately, kitNssth

practice, most unfortunately, kitcssth
er, too common. Good mothers should
be held for breeders as long as possible.
The care of the pig must begin before
it is born, BY not only giving the dam
comfortable quarters, but supplying
such food as is essential for the build.
ing up OF the bodies of her young.
During pregnancy the sow should 70
ceive plenty of protein food, in the
shape OF blue grass or clover pasture.
bran, shorts, middlings, shipstuff,
skim-milk and peas 1t is impossible
to keep brood sows through the winter
on Indian corn alone, and have good
results at farrowing time. Even il
large litters of pigs are successfully
brought into the world by dams SO fed,
there must be q weakening Of constitu-
tion which sooner or later will bring
disastrous results. Since it Is the
cheapest food on the list, corn very
properly may form part Of the ration
of hogs at at all times, but to cause >
brood sow to not only maintain her own
life, but to grow the bodies of a litter
of young from the elements contained
in the daily ration of corn is simply
cut of the question. There are not
enough bone and muscle elements in
the corn brood sow can consume tc
suffice for building up the bodies OF
her young.
"Unless the farmer has the proper
buildings and conveniences for attend.
ing to the wants of brood sows it is
better to have the pigs born IN tile
summer time, when the mothers are
running on pasture, for with pigs
brought into the world under such
conditions the risk is reduced to tho
minimum. When horn, it is profitable
to push the pigs forward as rapidly as
possible by feeding the mother heavily
on nutritious diet, which should con-
tain a very considerable amount of pro-
tein and ash elements, since the bodies of
young pigs expand rapidly and should
be built up in bone and muscle and
not fat. The cheapest grain made by
hogs at this station va when feeding
sows with young pigs, % heavily that
they even gained in weight while
sucking their young. Less than three
gain. Having grown II strong mus
cular frame the time comes when the
farmer must separate the breeding
stock from the remainder of the herd
and give it different treatment. Breed
ing stock should be kept out of doors.
on pasture as much as possible, and
every attention given towards keep
ing the animal natural and healthy.
The final purpose to which hogs for
the market are intended mrst direct
the way in which they are ham
died. With well grown car
cass of 100 pounds for ;asis,
hogs which are intended for the
general market can be fed almost cx-
clusively ON corn, adding ground a
little oats, shorts. skim-milk or other
protein food. As far as possible, how
ever, in these times of low prices, hogs
should be grown on pastures, and corn
used only to ripen up the animal. On
our western farms land is the cheapest
and labor the dearest thing we have.
The hog that runs in = clover field or
bluegrass pasture waits on himself,
and makes healthy growth, If not q
very fast one. This growth is usually
more profitable than that made from
entire grain feed. Usually { part. ra-
tion of grain can be profitably fed to
grazing hogs to hasten their growth.
''Where the general market is the
destination, one can not be over. par
ticular about the pork product, but
must manage it At all points in the
very cbeapeSt way"