The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1899-11-28
.TVE SEOCI<
CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK
PROFITABLE PORK RAISING
year.
No. 4.
MANAGING THE NATURE HOG.

$500
correspondence of the Progressive Farmer.
While receiving this kind of food,
pigs less than seven or eight months
Of age should not be confined to a small
pen or lot. The object at this time is
to build bone and muscle rather than
to overload the animal with an excess
i've amount Of fat which during the hot
month can serve only to make life a
burden to the hog and render him
liable to disease. If the pigs a have
a run of several acres in extent they
will take exercise enough to work the
fat off and harden their bone and mus
Gle, giving them sufficient strength to
support a body Of three or four hun
dred pounds weight at the fattening
period draws to a close.
The run for the hogs should be SO
arranged that it can be cut up into sew
eral smaller lots each of which can be
devoted to a special forage crop suited
to tide the animals over a period of
otherwise scant grazing. In case tndi
cations are such as to make it appear
that COW peas for the soaked grain will
be scarce or expensive the mcs5 OF the
grazing crops should be made up of
plants known to be rich in available
nitrogen Cor muscle-formers or lean
meat makers) then the proportion of
the peas in the grain may be greatly
reduced without the pigs suffering any
check in growth. For late winter and
spring grazing, vetoh, oats and rye
sown together in fall are good. Rape
planted by itself is first class as long as
it lasts. Crimson tlover, whsr re iEgrows
we'll, is an excellent crop for winter
and spring grazing.
AS the season advances spring-sown
oats and vetch find a good place. Scr
ghum planted thick and cut and fed
when about to come into head is priz5d
highly by some while others condo mn
it's use, claiming that it forms q fun
gold like coat in the stomach, after
which the hog is very liable to disease,
and becomes unthrifty. We have fed
sorghum to our hogs and dairy herd
here at the college without being able
to detect any unfavorable symptom in
either class of animals. The habit the
sorghum has Of making such rapid
growth after it has once been cut off,
is n very strong point in its favor.
As the pig grows older and the green
and succulent crops of summer begin
to get scarce, a patch of peanuts, lin
peanut growing sections) sweet pota- !
toes, chutas, and artichokes answer q
very nice purpose. The hogs may be
allowed to graz9 and loot for the tubers
Of these crops. Chufas are said to be
very hard on the soil, for which reason
/ hesitate to recommend them for ex-
tensive cultivation. Artichokes are
never at their very best until they
have been acted upon by the frost,
consequently they are not well suited
for early fall use.
As the time at which the pigs are to
be slaughtered or sent to market ap-
proaches, they are better for being
shut up in a small, comfortable pen.
During the last five or six weeks of
their feeding, their "a ton should be
made up almost entirely Of ear corn or
coarsely- ground corn meal. There
to be but very little difference
whether this corn is hard and dry or
soaked soft. Always allow the hogs as
much clear water as they want to
drink. Greasy sIops and dish-waters
do not have a very great thirst qIench
ing power.
Feed with the idea of keeping your
herd in a healthy condition constantly
before you. Allow than free access to
common salt and wood ashes to which
a small amount Of copperas and lime
may " been added. If your hogs
nave never had any salt to a thew
may take an overfeed at first and be-
injured thsreby. 10 casa they are not
uSeo 60 1t, it is better to give them a
small amount each day for several