Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1916-03-07
AMONG THE FARMERS.
ssPxnD TEE PLow."

II
"sPHHD TEE PLow."
d soficitsd. Address sll oommunioations 4
landed for this Department 70 HnN1Y
\ aAm0MD. Agricultural Editor Oxford Den
oI Finds Hogs Better than Poultry.
Several years ago young man at Bar
/ gor, Me-, became greatly interested i
stories which were told of the wonderful
returns from poultry. Not having ha,
previous experience along this line, b
thought ali that was necessary was +
buy few hundred hens and begin busi
ness. In the fall of 1912 w. j. Driscoll
therefore, purchased hens and place,
them on q 40-acre farm, which he hat
purchased about this time. Befor
spring had come, Mr.. Driscoll had salts
fed himself that for him there was moth
ing in the chicken business. All of th,
hens were killed and sold. The pro
ceeds from these were invested in q
shotes, the cost being SIS.
In about seven months by careful feed
ing the shotes averaged 275 pounds, eact
was then II months old. Not caring tC
kill the pigs, they were sold to . loca
butcher, alive, for cents pound. The
butcher said: "These are the best pigs
have ever put knife into"
Greatly elated over the success of this
first venture in pigs, Mr.. Driscoll con.
particularly we'll adapted to the produc.
ton of pigs, being far enough away from
other buildings 80 that the noise of the
pigs does not cause complaint from the
neighbors; still the farm Is close enough
to the city of Bangor 80 the food supply
can be obtained and the pigs carried to
market at small expense.
The farm was equipped with q hen
house 120 feet long and 16 feet wide.
This was overhauled and reconstructed
so it is now adapted for pigs. There are
II pens on each side of the house with a
3+foot alleyway between. Most of the
pens are 6x6 feet, only large enough fer
one or two pigs. The pens are used
mostly for finishing just before killing.
A few, however, are used where little
pigs are to be produced.
As q general rule, the fattening pigs
are not encouraged to exercise very
much. In the alleyway . wooden track
is laid on each side and q platform car is
used on which the barrels of food and
the refuse matter from cleaning the
pens are carried.
At the east side of the main house is
the feed room. In this feed room is
found large brick fire-box on top of
which are found two large caldrons,
each having capacity of "a gallons.
There is ample room for the storage Of
barrels and some other materials in the
feed room.
The food necessary to feed the pigs on
this farm Is obtained from two sources.
Mr.. Driscoll is partner In q restaurant
from which the garbage is obtained.
More 10 obtained from an institution IN
Bangor. The sum Of of $3.50 per year Is
paid for the material obtained from
these two places. The garbage used is
about six barrels per day. Each morn
ing the man drives to Bangor, 12
miles away, and brings out the garbage
in covered iron barrels. The material Is
placed in the caldrons and water is add
ed until 1t is q sloppy mass. This is
then boiled for an hour. At first the
material was not boiled, but fed to the
pigs in the raw state. The incoming of
disease resulted in the boiling.
Besides the use of garbage during
March, April, May and June, 100 pounds
middlings per day are used for the
young pigs and for the sows. In feed
ing pigs those that are being fattened re-
ceive about 20 quarts of the boiled gar
bage per day, the food being given in
the morning and again in the. afternoon.
The small pigs receive from three quarts
up per day, according to their size.
Twice during recent years Mr.. Dris
coll has suffered greatly from diseased
pigs. In the fall of 1918, 6s pigs were
killed because of contagious fever. These
were buried and the house was sprayed
and thoroughly wbitswsshed. At this
time Mr.. Drisco1 decided to cook the
food.
In the fall of 1914, 1877 pigs died, most
of them being small. The trouble here
was due, to q large extent, to overfeed.
ing, although some of the pigs had chol-
era. The man working in the piggery
hand to continue feeding his pigs, often
.
they could possibly eat, and not encour-
aging them to exercise hardly any. The
pigs we're then in receptive condition
for disease. Changing men and looking
into the conditions of pig rails
ing, the loss has practically been re-
moved. Now whenever pig seems to
be ailing, he is Immediately isolated,
and if he does not get well quickly he is
killed and buried.
Besides the large house which has
been spoken of previously, there are 10I
small houses for fattening, the houses
being 6xS feet in size. With each one of
these houses is yard 20x30 feet. The
hospital consists Of small house and
yard 3Ox20 feet.
Four wire psns 2OOxSOO feet are now
being used through the summer and al
low the pigs range, the idea being to
have something growing 10 the yards
which will furnish food for the pigs for
a certain definite time. In each wire
pen there is an A-shaped house or shed
consisting of nothing more than a roof
This serves for the protection Of the
pigs in exceedingly rainy weather, and
from sun during the hot days.
Mr.. Driscoll is in particularly fine
position to watch the market, as he 10
buying large quantities of food for the |
at all times. A short time
ago 80 pigs we're killed weighing over
5000 pounds and sold at l3 cents per
the top Of the market. General. |
" speaking, the high market comes dur
ing the month OF January. Mr.. Driscoll
had 1S5 pigs to kill during the first
month of 1916. Besides selling pigs to