Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1912-08-27
Pioneer Maine Hog Farm.
C. W. HUssEY PREPARING TO PRODUCE
PORK ON A LARGE SCALE.

C. W. Husssy, the proprietor OF q
large farm in the town OF Albion, Is the
first man in Maine to undertake the pro
duction of pork on large scale, except
as an adjunct to q dairy. He believes
that the present era Of high prices fol
farm products has come to stay and ID
making plans for the future accordingly,
His methods are something new for this
part Of the country, and the whole enter.
prise has attracted considerable atten'
ton from the farmers near and far.
The fundamental idea behind Mr.
Hussey's enterprise is that the pork sold
shall represent to large extent the prod.
ucts of his soil rather than the purchased
ration, which has been the undoing oi
swine husbandry in Maine. To this end
he plans for series of palatable and nu-
tritious forage crops to maintain the
herd from early spring until the corn
for fattening them has been harvested In
the fall. To keep the labor involved
down to minimum, he also makes the
porkers do the greater part of the har.
vesting.
The building in which the brood sows
are made comfortable for the winter Is
the largest and finest thing of its kind
in the state. This is 2S by 4S feet, two
and half stories high, and is situated
iu the center of two acre lot, fenced
with heavy wire. The center of the
ground floor ia devoted to a large root
cellar, with cook room adjoining. Clear
around the outside of the building is the
row of pens, with convenient arrange
ments for feeding. The second floor is
a duplicate of the first, except that the
center space is for the storage of the
corn raised. The half story under the
roof has been arranged for keeping poul-
try during the winter.
Cultivated fields surround the hog lot
on three sides, while the big orchard
across the road is reached by means of
the SUBWAY" The first crop ready
for the pigs in the spring is hairy vetcb,
sown late in the summer before between
the corn rows at the final cultivation.
The brood sows and pigs are given the
run of the field several weeks before the
little fellows are weaned, so that the
starting of their independent careers is a
very gradual process. BY the time that
Tue V6tCu UcSluo " tutu Jul uiS h0iu
of alfalfa is ready, and that lasts until
time for the pigs to begin on the rape.
This latter is the backbone OF the forage
crops on the Hussey farm, and from
the time the pigs begin on it there is all
they can eat until the ground freezes.
Then comes the finishing process with
roots and corn. Mangels and rutabagas
are the root crops grown. and with such
success that Mr.. Hussey sees no occasion
for any change.
This present fall Mr.. Hussey will
turn off about one hundred hogs finished
for the market. From year to year he
plans to increase this number two or
three times. As yet they have all been
through ordinary trade chan
nels, and the demands of the work on
the farm have made anything else out
of the question. Within a year or 80,
however, Mr.. Hussey will see what can
be done in the way of cutting out the
One of the men on his farm
worked where big retail busi-
ness in sausages kept good sized crew
busy right through the winter. As
Albion is conveniently near to the thriv-
ing cities of Waterville, Augusta and Ban
gor, Mr.. Hussey looks to the future OF
bis hog ranch with confidence. Christie
pher NJ. Gallup, Skowhegan, Me-, in
Farmer.