St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1897-06-12
FARMER AND PLANTER.
SWINE RAISING.
What Precautions Should be Taken to
Keep a Herd Healthy.

L
One of the first and most important
things toward keeping herd healthy
is to have good, clean, airy, comforta-
BILE quarters, well ventilated and with
plenty of sunshine. Hogs frequently,
! like men, manage to live under the
most adverse circumstances, but if yon
| wish to ward off disease care must be
exercised at all times to keep their
| sleeping quarters free from dust.
| Many hogs die annually from pneu-
| monia and other diseases of the
lungs, but the cause is generally
attributed to cholera or swine
plague. Hogs that are compelled to
i sleep in dusty beds, and every time
they breath take into their lungs more
or less dust, can not thrive. We notice
this quicker in young pigs where the
| SOW is allowed TO have her bed around
| an old straw stack. | consider dust
one of the worst enemies that young
| pigs have to contend with. Their
| bed should be removed once or twice
| a week, and each time sprinkle a little
4 disinfectant over it, Air-slaeked lime,
crude carbolic acid and sulphuric acid
are all good and cheap disinfeetants.
The best breeders seem to differ in
their opinion as to what make the
best floors and bedding. | have
found that where the houses are
permanent the most satisfactory
/ floors to me have been good, we'll
packed clay. In the fall dig up and
haul out about six inches of the old
floor and fill in with fresh clay and
! pack well. Where the houses are NOV
| able this is not necessary. And for
bedding, | have used this past winter
shredded fodder with the greatest sat
| isfaction. Sunshine is almost impor-
tant as good air. The houses or stalls
should face the south, and have win
dow, if possible, and if not, then SO
that the doors can be left open for the
sun to shine in.
The next thing in Importance to good
quarters is good, pure water. With
the human family many diseases are
directly traeeable to the use of impure
water. 1t does not follow by any
means that because a supply of water
is from a spring, that it is pure and
free from various microbes. Our best
! physicians tell us that there is no pre-
| ventive equally as effective as drinking
pure filtered cistern water. | am so
/ thoroughly convinced of the impor-
tance of good, pure water, that while |
| have on my place one of the best
springs in Kentucky, [ hope soon to
have all of my lots supplied with els
tern water only. Is it strange that
many hogs die annually when they are
! compelled to wallow in and drink the
| vilest of water? Some people seem to
| think that water is all right for q
hog if it is only wet
In this day of cheap petroleum it
seems to me to be almost criminal in a
man to allow his hogs to be loaded
| down with lice. Lice always seem 70
me to be forerunner of disease. They
seem to thrive best on sick hog, or it
may be that hog can not thrive and
the lice also. l have found nothing SO
effective against this pest as crude
| petroleum, with a little crude earbolic
acid added. A regular application of
this once a week is sure death to lice. y
Every man must be his own judge as
/ to what is best for him to feed. What
is most available and cheapest in one
section of the country may be entire
4 ly too expensive in another section.
But there are some things that are
| available to all and are at all times
necessary. Salt, charcoal, wood ashes
and slack coal should be kept where
the hogs can go to it as they want. /
have seen some farmers who thought
it never necessary to salt their hogs.
lgWhatever may be the principal food
nsed change of diet occasionally is
very beneficial and will whet up their
1ppetites.
| In this latitude there is no reason
why we should not always have some
thing green for our hogs. They are
by nature grazers, and nothing SO regu-
lates the bowels and is relished by
them as fresh pasture Of clover, blue
grass or rye.
A mistake that is probably made by
more people than any other one is that
/ of overcrowding. Many a person hav-
ing done well with one or two sows,
figures it out on paper that he can do
equally as well with ten or twenty, and
Immediately stocks up his place with
large number of hogs Nine times
out of ten he only sends out and allur-
ing invitation to disease and disease
| comes. Hogs will not stand too much
crowding, nor do / believe that the
same lots ought TO be used year after
year without plowing. Nothing so puri-
fes the ground like blowing. Give them
change of pasture; plow the old lots
and let the cultivation, the rain and
sunshine thoroughly disinfect them.
Always have some grazing for your
hogs; don't let more than Is or GO be in
nelot together, watch them closely,
and, if at any time a hog shows any
signs of being off of his feed, immedi-
| ately remove him in to a separate lot
away from the others.
| By watching closely, and keeping as
/ your motto, to prevent disease instead
OF curing, I believe you can expect
generally coed results.
TOBACCO CULTURE.
t2The Soil Best Adapted for Raising Bright
Tobacco.