Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1910-06-01
BIG PROFIT IN HOG RAISING.
Much Depends on Breed, but Care
Necessary in Feeding.

We have been endeavorlng for
years to build up a great hog-raising
industry In Canada, and we have sue
ceeded. Our product has a good rep
utation in the market OH the other
side Of the water, and we have con-
stantly increasing demand in our
own country, says writer in the New
York Tribune Farmer. This sort of
thing Is not confined to Canada alone,
as the same conditions exist in the
United States, Denmark and Ireland.
The first factor for successful feeding
Is the man. 1t Is not absolutely nee
| essary that he should be Irish but 1t
Is Il decided advantage If he has some
Irish blood in his veins. A man who
likes the business will make more Of
success out Of hog feeding. You
cannot make a success OF It Il you
leave the work to the hired man, un-
less he is better man than you are.
Then comes the question of breed.
That is a question we never agree
upon, but there is a tendency to re-
vert to the short, thick, fat, chunky
hogs, under the impression that they
are the cheapest feeders and produce
meat more cheaply than the longer
type of hog that we have been trying
to introduce into this country for
years. Now, l think 1t IS a mistake
to go back to the fat short hog. If
| were going out to buy a lot of
hogs for feeding purposes l would
throw out every thick, fat, short hog
in the lot. On the other hand, in the
| early days of this bacon trade we had
an exaggerated idea of what was re-
Quired, and the first importations
brought into the country were en-
tremely bad feeders. The Yorkshires
and Tamworths, especially the York
shires, were exceedingly bad feeders.
They were great, long, coarse-boned,
bare-backed, hat-sided brutes that
you could not make anything out Of;
but the modern Yorkshires and the
modern Tamworths and Berkshires
are all right. There is no use at
tempting hog feeding unless we have
the right kind Of hog to start with.
Get the best sire and dam you can
possibly find. Five or ten dollars
saved on the purchase Of a sire
Is simply money thrown away, be-
cause one sire might mean a differ
! ence In one season of 500, and pos
sibly more.
Another mistake We often make is
that we wean our pigs too young.
believe in getting the little pigs start
ed off to eat at three or four weeks
old, and there is nothing better than
little milk and shorts to get them
started. Then feed them literally,
and by the time you wean' them, at
or 10 weeks old, you have big,
strong, lusty pigs. am satisfied
that great many of our people lose
all the profit in the business by the
way they handle pigs at weaning
time. am stl ong believer in rails
Ing little pigs in the open. OF course,
you must have shelter for them in
but let them have access to 80,
earth; keep them on the ground and
give them exercise; give them green
food, and you will get them to de-
velop bone and muscle and strong
stomachs. They are always on their
feed and always at their feed / like
to have them out "A a clover pasture
or on peas and rape. For later feed
ing rape makes satisfactory pas
ture. Of course, you must feed the
pigs reasonably well at the same
time. We all know that for economic
production mixture of several
grains fed together will give better
results than any one grain fed alone.
| cannot lay down a hard and fast
rule. Some seasons oats might be
very satisfactory, but if you get ouch
combination as high-priced oats it
would be foolish to advocate their
use, especially when we have to buy
our feed. During the winter months,
In a root-growing country, such as
we have, / believe roots are good
food, and should comprise a large
proportion Of the ration, and be-
lieve in boiling the roots and feeding
some grain. DO not load them up
with great lot Of water; feed the
roots In rather thick batter and
mix in your shorts and middlings and
whatever grain you may happen to
nave. For larger pigs, pulp the