Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1911-10-18
Swine in New England.

| these, with what calves are raised.
take the skim milk o. the dairy,
writes H. Leigh Hunt of Vermont in
| the American Cultivator. Here and
there one finds farmer who goes in
to the business more extensively,
raising his own pigs and numbers to
be sold at four weeks of age to those
who prefer to buy rather than raise
them.
Usually these farmers have easy
access to some cheap by-product, like
buttermilk from the creamery, POM
ace from a cider mill, or something
of that nature. The waste from the
slaughter house is utilized sometimes.
A butcher will slaughter his animals
on some farm not too remote from a
village. The farmer supplies quar-
/ ters and suitable facilities for doing
| this work, and has the waste in pay
ment. Hogs and hens flourish on this
waste, and it adds greatly to the fer
tiIity of the farm. These opportuni
ties are, however, not numerous
enough to afford many a chance to
use them.
There is no great margin of profit
IN the ordinary run of hog raising.
more than in any other line of farm
ing, but as factor in keeping the
fields in good fertility the hog de-
serves much more credit than it usu-
ally gets. The average barn cellar is
not cemented. Unless much pains is
taken to supply absorbents and keep
the manure we'll worked over, much of
the value is lost. Even with cement
ed floors the quality of the fertilizers
is better and the sanitary conditions
of the barns better when absorbents
are used, and hogs mix the mass
! thoroughly. In up to-date stables of
course the manure is not supposed to
accumulate for many days at a time.
but as matter Of fact it does &C
cumulate for months at time in the
Easements of the greater number Of
barns in New England. Perhaps New
ENGLAND is not so very much different
from other sections in regard to this
matter. l surmise that she isn't.
Nothing will put this accumulation
into such good condition as to keep a
brood SOW or two on it, or few hun
CRY shotes. The brood sows do not
require to be heavily fed; indeed,
they are better off without If among
the absorbents used some contain
vegetable matter, such as weeds,
turf, fallen leaves, ETC., the sows
will delight in bunting out every edi-
UlG part anu u0VUuII& IL, lie 1lCteE
from the horse stable usually is at
tractive to them, and they will work
it over and over in great contentment.
Some farmers that I know estimate
that their brood sows pay for their
keeping in the additional amount and
improved quality of the fertilizers
produced. Nearly all the swine kept
here are chartered in The barn GEL
lars.
One point is often overlooked in
their care. Swine kept in a barn
| cellar should have fresh air and clean
: water, particularly in warm weather.
t 1t has often been a subject of won
F derment to me that eastern hogs,
] shut in filthy, unventilated barn Gel.
, lars. were so universally healthy as
| they are. Disease among them is
much more rare than sections where
hogs are psstured for the greater
part of their lives. If the cellars
are kept open on one side during
| warm weather, and the hogs have
; plenty of bedding and all the drinl
a they care for, they are as comforta
4 BILE as possible. They are sheltered
: from the direct rays of the sun, an,
e one hardly ever gets sick. 1t entail
n more labor to keep them indoor
bUIOuSu Tue UuI LH6y pa
$ for this labor in the fertilizer pro
ducod and it need not cost any NOR
d to feed them. In order to get prof
h it from them in ordinary times, som
{ pains must be taken to feed as niue
as may be of inexpensive food.
Much is written about growing pas
ture for swine and turning them int
:, it to harvest it themselves. The hog
=, enjoy this, and it looks easy, but be,
8 ter returns are received to harves
= these crops and feed them systemat
:. cally. If turned into the field the
- do not work it evenly. They wi
grub up parts of it and fertilize
S heavily and other parts will not
J. worked much. 1t is better to cut an
h Iced this to them in stated amount
y regularly and keeping them we'll bee
f ded have the fertilizer where it ca
be placed where most needed. NJ
many farmers in this section pastur
Z their hogs, and those who do usual
X simply turn them temporarily into a
> old orchard or piece of rough pastur
4 for a short time, but on the othe
t hand not half of them furnish Absorb
Z ents enough to get anywhere near tn
Il benefit from them that they might.
When l was a kid, and trotte
oHc an VI tIlC SoIil pIoIltCIos oIOpplIl
). corn, each hill of corn had under it
O generous allowance of we'll rotted no,
b manure, and how that corn did grow
Farmers of that time said that corr
should be tasseled out by July 4.
z. haven't seen any tasseled corn FourtI
e OF July for 20 years or more. But
q have seen other crops booming from
n the effect OF a liberal applica tion O.
S hog manure, and nothing that wa:
y ever tried on this farm ever gave
n equal returns. Ii is quite possible t.
manufacture large quantity Of thi.
+. valuable fertilizer at small expense
O. i'd the farms all need all that they
y can get of it. The hogs as money
y crop pay as we'll as any other, ane
= they put back on the land the greater
part, if not all, that they take from
1t.
g This is something that the farmer
e all over the country have got to TAX,
e into consideration more and more i
n no al,