The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1915-01-15

There is a great difference in opin-
ion among farmers-and good farmers
at that-as to the age at which sows
should be bred. Some men breed gifts
at ten or eleven months, while others
do not breed until they are two years
old,
Never select a brood SOW with a
long. lean, narrow head, and wicked
little eye. She is apt to be nervous
and cross and pig eater.
1t is a good plan to feed little
grain to the growing pigs, even though
they are running on good pastures.
In the South many hog raisers turn
their young hogs out into the swamps
along the rivers and creeks, and pay
no attention to them during the entire
summer, rounding them up in the fall,
only to feed them two or three weeks
before shipping them to market. Some
surprisingly good results are obtained
in this way, too.
Sows with young litter should be
watched carefully, for there are many
sows that do not give enough milk to
start the pigs off we'll In such cases
the youngsters should be fed a little
whole cows milk, warmed at first, and
later skim milk, with a handful of
| shorts in it,
The man who raises pigs for mar
ket, and pushes them along with some
grain, shorts and oats, even while they
are running in, rich pastures, will
bring them to perfection much more
quickly than if they are allowed to run
on grass alone, until fall.
| Keep the box full of charcoal, salt
and sulphur, where the pigs can get at
it all the time. 1t may surprise you to
find out how much they win eat, but it
will pay to provide this food for them.
When pigs are old enough to eat
they should be fed in a separate pen
from that in which theiS mother is
confined. A door just large enough
to admit the pigs and keep cut the
mother should be placed in the parti-
ton, so the youngsters can come and
go at will.
Sunshine and exercise are the indis-
pensable rights of all farm animals.
Modern hog houses are, as a rule,
too close, too warm and too comfort
able.
Poor ventilation is the common fault
and the inaccessibiiity to sunlight is
an equally serious one
1t is sad mistake to imagine that
increasing the bulk of the feed for
hogs by adding water will do them any
good.
Clean food and clean quarters will
keep the hogs healthy.
Keep the troughs clean. Never feed
any fermented food.
Among the feeds that should be
given is skim milk, which is very good,
as it contains large amount of pro
tein, and is bulky. Glover is an ex-
ceptionally good feed in the green
state, and even clover hay steamed
proves very nutritious. Oil meal cake
contains much nutriment of the right
kind. Where alfalfa can be had it is
also good. Oats in various forms fur
nish the exact kind of nutriment most
serviceable for the breeding animals
The SOW that is carrying pigs needs
large amount of protein food on ac-
count of the extra bodies she is build
ing up. But care must be taken not to
have too much protein in the food, as
the starchy parts are also needed. The
|. starch.forming elements should be FIVE
or six times the protein elements.
This is about the composition Of 0at
meal. Bran is a highly heterogeneous
feed and should be balanced with
something else when it is fed. All
plants that have pods are rich in pro-
TEN and are thus good materials out
of which to make food for breeding
swine.
Young bears will usually make bet
ter growth if kept separated from the
sows. There might be conditions or
exceptions where this would not be
true, but they will certainly be rare.
Not only should the boar be separat-
ed from the sows when there are
young pigs around, but at all other
times. The mos expensive way of
keeping boar i 70 let him run with
the rest of the herr. He should be
kept in lot by himself, but this lot
should be large enough to furnish
ample green feed and plenty of exer-
else.