Crossville chronicle. [volume] (Crossville, Tenn.) 1894-current, 1915-03-24

| use series OF crops. rOr example,
have some winter oats on which the
sows can turned as soon as the pigs
are week or two old. When these
are gone put the pigs on good Ber-
muda and lespedeza pasture. Have a
crop of soy beans or cowpeas coming
and turn the pigs on this after wean-
ing, keeping the sows on the Ber-
muda. When these are gone put the
pigs in peanut patch. and finish fat
tening them on rape
The pigs should be weaned at ten or
twelve weeks of age and should then
weigh about 80 pounds. They Shout.
have learned to eat little grain by
going to the sow's trough. Then be-
gin to feed them Give them every
day grain equal to per cent of their
weight. A pig weighing 80 pounds
should have SO pound of grain; ten
pigs of this weight. six pounds. etc.
| Divide this into two feeds, morning
and evening. This amount Of grain
will make them grow nicely on good
pasture AS they grow, increase the
amount of grain. When they weigh
about 1875 pounds give them per cent
of their weight In grain, and when
they weigh about $50 pounds each give
them per cent and finish them off,
slaughtering in the winter on cool
day. Pigs properly fed should weigh
200 pounds at nine months old. Do not
feed cottonseed meal to hogs
1t Is not necessary to spend lot OF
money to carry out such plan. or
course, the Bermuda pasture where
the sows are turned should have
good fence. The crops on which the
pigs are grazed can be fenced with
homemade hurdles of lumber or woven
wire, which may be moved as desired.
and the pigs will stay in it while the
pasture Is good. Ten pigs can be
kept on half an acre of one of the
crops mentioned above from four to
eight weeks, depending on their size.
8. A poor pig is not worth raising or
feeding. Your pigs should be sired
by good pure-bred Duroc Jersey,
Berkshire, or Poland China boar After
you have decided which of the three
you want, stick to the same breed and
in a little while you will have pigs
which are very much alike, model
for others, and an advertisement for
your community. II you can afford it,
start with good grade sows. If not,
natives (razorbacks) will do. White
pigs should not be used in the South,
as they sunburn badly.
A. Expensive houses are not neces
sary for hogs in the South. Give the
sow dry place to farrow, a pen well
bedded and sheltered from cold winds
and storms, and both she and the pigs
will do we'll. Little pigs that get
chilled or wet soon after birth often
die or grow into "runts." If there is
no suitable place around the farm for
the SOW, make a lean-to with poles,
about 10 by IL feet, six. feet high in
front and four feet high behind, facing
it to the south. and thatch 1t with
straw. cheap hay, or even cornstalks,
and the litter will be we'll housed.
Make the thatch roof higher in the
middle than at the sides and smooth
it down so that rain will run off.
Two sows should raise five pigs |
each, giving the farmer ten pigs to
slaughter. These pigs should weigh,
when slaughtered, 200 pounds each,
making 1000 pounds of live weight.
This costs about 31a cents per pound
to make in the South under the system
described above, which is an original
cost of $40. Killing will cost not over
Sc. The loss in dressing is about 30
per cent of the live weight, or 900
pounds on ten pigs, so that 1,4OO |
pounds of dressed pork is on hand aft
err slaughtering. If you can get local
ice plant to chill and cure the meat
for you, the manager should charge
not over four cents per pound, which
is $56 Then the meat loses weight
in curing, amounting to about one cent
per pound, or $14 The total cost of
the meat is about as follows:
Raising 1000 pounds, at 3h cents
per pound ................:$ 70
Killing ............ minimum.
Curing 1,400 pounds, at cents
per pound b6
Shrinkage on 1,400 pounds, at
cent per pound ............... IA