The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1895-03-07
DIVERSIFIED FARMING.
BY JAMES ARNOLD.

A little over seven years ago, when
the writer first came to Redwood
county, he was surprised to find that
hog raising was very little practised
here, and that some farmers did not
even raise enough hog meat for their
own use. The general practice
seemed to be, to buy one or two young
pigs in the spring, keep them till
fall and butcher them; repeating the
same thing again the next year. As
the industry is somewhat new, pro-
pose to give my fellow farmers the ex-
perience of one who has raised thous-
ands, and who in a period extending
over. Is years, has lost but once by
cholera during that time, though he
lived in a district where the disease
frequently abounded, and hogs died
around him by the hundreds. Though
/ don't think Minnesota will ever be
as great a hog raising State as the
corn States, yet I am Satisfied that
the hog can be made to fill in most
important place in diversified farming;
In fact, [ think hog raising should be
the first, as it is the easiest step to
take, for it takes less capital and less
time,) from grain raising to- diversified
farming. l propose. therefore, to
make these papers elementry, and I
hope instructive, andin order to do
so, l shall show how to select and
breed the hog, how to raise him, how
to feed him, how to doctor him in
common ailments, and lastly, how. to
dispose of him. In selecting your
hog, can hardly advise practise I
have read of for that purpose. The
kind of hog used in this manner of
selecting is naturally divided into
three parts, snout, ears and remainder.
He is corraled, then some one grabs
him by the ears, balances him, and if
the snout is the heaviest part, he is
turned loose for another season, but if
the tail goes down he is handed over
to be butchered, for it is supposed
there is then some picking between
the ears and tail. The kind above
mentioned though very prolific will
not pay their keeper; the kind we
want is the product of genius, time,
patience, care and good feed. There
are numerous breeds or varieties, and
among those worthy of special men,
ton are Poland China, Chester White
Jersey Red and Berkshire; these are
large breeds, and among the smaller
breeds are Essex, Suffork, and small
Yorkshire. The large breeds, with the
exception of the Berkshire, have droop.
ing ears; the Berkshire, (which is more
a medium sized hog as now bred, and
the small breeds have upright ears
The Poland China, Berkshire and
Essex are black hogs, the others men
toned, with the exception of the
Jersey Red, are white. Each breeder
of course, thinks his particular breed
is best, on the principle l suppose
that every old crow thinks it's own
young the blacklist. Every breed has
its merits NO doubt, but without doubt
the Poland China is the most popular
of any breed in the United States, al
evidenceds by the preponderance o
this breed placed on the markets o
this country, and after trying all the
large breed mentioned, give my vot'
| in favor of the Poland China. In tn,
selection of a breed one must bt
guided by circumstances. The small
breeds appear to stand close confin
ment little better than the large, al
though all are much better for havin!
good pasture in summer. Whateve
J breed may be decided on, there is
; certain conformation, which must b
/ adhered to-, and this conformation
, will be found in the best specimens Q
). every breed. It is as follows: Broa
nose, broad between the eyes, rathe
I short from the snout to the top of tn
: head, dished face, rather heavy jow
short neck, shoulders broad and deer
: hams wide and coming we'll down t
: the hook, ribs we'll sprung out, max
4 ing a round barrel and deep body, tn
: body should be long between shoulo
: ers and hips and enough hone in hi
) legs to carry so ponderous body
In fact good hogs body is oblong
shape and the width almost equal
its depth, somewhat resembling a
oblong block with the corners rounde
off. This shape indicates a stron
vital temperament and denotes a
easy keeper, and but little offal. Sue
, a hog when properly fattened will ne
r dress away more than one fifth, an
e the head if cut straight off at til
! ! Joint next the skull, close behind t
), ears, will weigh about one-thirteent
:. of the total weight. Having selecte
our hog, the next step is to propagat
the species, and as the hog rapid
deteriorates with careless breeding
is necessary to know how to breed, {
> as to keep up the quality, and if poss
i BILE improve upon It. The improve
hog, as we have him now, is the n
suit of careful selection, mating an
feeding, and there are certain primo
pies which cannot be ignored it "
would have success. 1t must be born
in mind that in hogs as in all oth'
animals, there is q masculine an
feminine conformation. In the ma
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