The Republican journal., 1911-11-16
Swine in New England.
Points About Their Care. How They Can
Aid In Restoring the Soil.

Points About Their Care. How They Can
Aid in Restoring the Soil.
Swine raising is carried on here for
the most part as side line to dairy farm
ing. Two or three hogs are growing on
nearly every farm and these, with what
calves are raised, take the skim milk of
the dairy, writes H. Leigh Hunt of Yer
mont in the American Cultivator. Here
and there one finds farmer who goes
into the business more extensively, rails
ing 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 ac-
cess to some cheap by-product, like but
termilk from the creamery, pomace from
a cider mill, or something of that nature.
The waste from slaughter house is
utilized sometimes. A butcher will
slaughter his animals on some farm not
too remote from village. The farmer
supplies quarters and suitable facilities
for doing this work, and has the waste
in payment. Hogs and hens flourish on
this waste, and it adds greatly to the
fertility of the farm. These opportuni-
ties are, however, not numerous enough
to afford many 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 farming, but as
a factor in keeping the fields in good fer
tility the hog deserves much more credit
than 1t Usually gets. The average barn
cellar is not cemented. Unless much
pains is taken to supply absorbents and
keep the manure well worked over, much
OF the value is lost. Even with cement
ed floors the quality of the fertilizer is
better and the sanitary conditions of the
barns better where 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 time, but as matter of fact it
does accumulate 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 brood
sow or two on it, or few:hungry shoats.
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 sow
will delight in hunting out every edible
part and devouring it. The litter from
the horse stables usually is attractive to
them, and they will work it over and over
in great contentment. Some farmers
that | know estimate that their brood
sows pay for their keeping in the ad-
ditional amount and improved quality of
the fertilizer produced. Nearly all the
swine kept here are quartered in the
barn cellars.
One point is often overlooked in their
care. Swine kept in barn cellar should
have fresh air and clean water, particu-
larly in warm weather. 1t has often been
a subject of wonderment to me that
Eastern hogs, shut in filthy, unventilated
barn cellars, were so universally healthy
as they are. Disease among them is
much more rare than in sections where
hogs are pastured 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 drink they care for, they are as COM
Portable as possible. They are sheltered
from the direct rays of the sun, and one
hardly ever gets sick. 1t entails more
labor to keep them indoors through the
summer, but they pay for this labor in
the fertilizer produced and it need not
cost any more to feed them. In order to
get profit from them in ordinary times,
some pains must be taken to feed as
much as may be of inexpensive food.
Much is written about growing pasture
for swine and turning them into it to
harvest it themselves. The hogs enjoy
this, and it looks easy, but better returns
are received to harvest these crops and
feed them systematically. If turned into
the field they do not work it evenly. They
will grub up parts of it and fertiliZe it
heavily and other parts will not be work.
ed much. 1t is better to cut and feed
this to them in stated amounts regularly
and keeping them we'll bedded, have the
fertilizer where it can be placed where
most needed. Not many farmers in this
section pasture their hogs, and those
who do usually simply turn them tenn
porarily into an old orchard or piece of
rough pasture for short time, but on
the other hand not half of them furnish
absorbents enough to get anywhere near
the benefit from them that they might.
When was kid, and trotted ahead
of the corn planters, dropping corn, each
hill of corn had under it generous al
loWanc of well rOtted hog manure. and
how the corn did grow. Farmers of that
time said that corn should be tasseled
out by July 4th. ! haven't seen any
tasseled corn the fourth of July for 20
years or more. But l have seen other
crops booming from the effect of liberal
application Of hog manure, and nothing
that was ever tried on the farm eve
gave equal returns. 1t is quite possible
to manufacture large quantity of this
valuable fertilizer at a small expense,
and the farms all need all that they can
get of it. The hogs as a money crop pay
as we'll as any other, and they put back
on the land the greater part, if not all,
that they take from it.
This is something that the farmers all
over the country have got to take into
consideration more and more if they
would prosper. The virgin richness made
by hundreds of years of decaying vege-
table matter has been gradually depleted,
wastefully so in the majority of cases.
The COW and the hog must be looked to,
to restore the fertility of our soil. Hogs
kept alone will do much in this direction,
but when kept in connection with good
dairy they make working force that
cannot be beaten.