Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-03-30
GETTING Profit Out of Hogs.

One man tells us there is more money
in hogs than in all the other stock
that can be kept on the farm and the
very next man we meet may say lhat
OF all the animals to eat their heads
off the hog takes the cake. We firmly
believe. with Theodore Lewis, with
whom we associated long, that the
first great thing in successful hog
raising, is Il strong muscular, rangy
animal vigorous and overfowing with
good health. With this kind of dam,
and a sire to match Mr.. Lewis looked
for large filters of live pigs. pigs If
not quite immune from cholera, and
other hog diseases, at least with
great power to resist them. This kind
of young porkers not only are not
liable to disease, but they are liable
to make the very best possible use OF
clover, rape or rye pasture, as Well as
of the grain that is fed with 1t. and
very liable too, to show profit when
sent to market. Growing pigs, and
soWs with or to have pigs, must not
be kept in pens, if best results for a
long series of years are to be hoped
for. They must have roomy, clean
quarters, ample range and pasture,
sunshine, pure water and pure AIR.
The reverse of all this is bound to
bring reverse results as surely as fol-
lowed long enough. We hear COM
plants on all sides not only of weakly
pigs but very few of them. One dis
couraged man told us not long ago
that his sows did not average him
four live pigs to the litter, and that
he took every pains possible with
them. Many complaints Of this KIND
reach us, and in some sections small,
weakly litters have become the great
est menace to the business. At the
same time we have met dozens OF sue
cessful hog growers the past summer.
DR.. Spafford, of Flandreau, Director
Wilson of the South Dakota station
and Frank Sherwin, of Brooklings,
among them, who claim and can snow
from nine to thirteen good strong
healthful pigs to the litter.
There is much in the way one
breeds and the way one feeds
to bring about these things, and
still more in the way soWs and sires
are handled from the time they are
born. The farther north we get, and
the farther from the pure lard, all
corn fed hogs, we get, the larger the
litters and the more vigorous the pigs.
In Canada, far north OF US, we found
larger. stronged litters than in Iowa
and Nebraska.
Doubtless this is largely owing to
the fact that Canada is farther from
corn than Iowa or Nebraska and nearer
bone and muscle forming food. But
4 ic.1 H.
ern farmer pastures more and gives
more attention to breeding for bone
and muscle and larger filters.
Harvey Johnson, the we'll known
Iowa hog grower, says in late num-
Der of the Homestead: aside from
breeding, I know of nothing that will
more surely reduce the bone, size
constitution and vitality of our hogs
than will the continuous feeding of
nothing but corn. Small filters and
poor suckers are some of the re-
suits of this method"
And Live Stock Report follows with
this: 1.-THE annual loss of brood sows
is a serious matter to the industry.
while that of young pigs is simply
disastrous. Last spring we visited a
stockman who had saved but five pigs
out of some fifty narrowed on his place.
In addition to this loss five of the sows
had died. The pigs mostly came dead
or died within few hours after birth
The owner wanted to know the cause
of the trouble as he did not happen to
be himself a practical farmer. The
cause was not far to seek Going
towards the hog house we saw a yard
covered two feet deep with corn cobs
Entering the house we found the sows
to be hog fat, and SO lazy that they