Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1912-02-09

shaped. eight foot square, hog
houses. Inese are cheap, easily
moved from place to place and an
swer every purpose, bolh for shell
ter from the sun and from the cool
night air, providing, they are we'll
ventilated. In addition to ade-
quate shelter, all pasture lots for
hogs in summer shoulu be provided
with bath" in which the animals
can go at will, not so much to
clean their bodies as to cool them
selves. Hogs should not be forced
to make walIow in some dirty,
filthy, stagnanl pool Of water in
order 10 cool themselves. Provide
each pasture lot with a small tank
eight by eight feet square and ten
inches deep, made of plank or con-
crete. set into the ground, and
have this supplied with fresh,
Clean water once or twice a week,
which will not hold to exceed two
or three barrels, and to this bath,
each week, you should add about
two quarts Of some good coal tar
disinfectant. It will be found an
excellent precautiOn against dis
ease. and particularly those of a
parasital nature, and is the most
effective method that | know of
for keeping the animals free from
lice and vermin. With these minor
projections against sudden ex-
tremes in temperature, this climate
is certainly ideal for hogs of all
ages. Compare our conditions In
this respect with those prevailing
in shc corn belt country, where
for a number Of months of the
year the animal must wallow
through mud and snow, their
bodies being down near the ground,
order to get sufficient exercise
to keep them in health. They are
forced to become wet and muddy,
and the loss from disease is conse-
duently very great Many OF the
best hog raisers in t. e middle west
consider themselves fortunate II
they do not lose their entire crop
of hogs once in every six or eight
years-such a condition need never
be considered in this section of the
country.
Conceruing the soil. little need
be said for it is such in almost
every section that it will produce
a maximum yield of all kinds OF
cereal grains, as well as peas, bean
and other legumes, and in the most
favorable sections corn crops can
be very successfully grown. In ad-
dition to all this, we grow here
the most valuable of all hog feeds,
in almost perfect form. namely
alfalfa. With alfalfa, dwarf Essex
rape and English kale for forage
a minimum amount of concentrated
high priced grain is required 1of
best results. The trouble has been
in many instances, to depend al
together too much upon alfalfa.
Because it is a good forage, people
should not make the mistake OF de-
pending upon it alone for feed to-
raise and fatten their hogs. The
hog is a gregarious animal and Is
and anatomlcally
more nearly like man than any
other domestic animal, his stomach,
intestines and whole system Of dl-
gestion and assimilation Is almost
a counterpart of the human, and as
q result he cannot thrive on coarse,
bulky. or very fiberous food. 1t Is
a good rule to follow in hog raising
in all particulars. to put yourself
in the other fellows place. Where
YOU would thrive and wax fat, Mr..
Hog will also think that he has
entered hog Heaven. You would
not long maintain your strength
and health on such food as alfalfa,
either green or in the form of hay,
nor will the hog do his best.
know that it is a common practice
TO turn brood sows and young pigs
into an alfalfa lot and there let
tnem range during most OF the
summer without additional feed. |
This is a very serious mistake; at |
no time in his life history can as
cheap gains be made on the hog as
in the early stages of his life.
In an experiment conducted un-
der my direction at the Wisconsin /
Station, number OF
years ago. it was learned that the
of food of support or
maintenance, to total feed in a so
pound pig was rs per cent; with a
pig, 25 per cent; 80
,o,,,,d ,nir u nor cent and POO Z