Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1916-12-06

occurring UOO0 Lltter Oh tlgS
Caring for brood sows and the man.
ner OF feeding them to secure the best
results are important questions. A
great deal depends on the care and
treatment the brood sow receives
plenty of sunshine and outdoor erer-
else during the day and a nice warm
place to sleep at night. Avoid letting
the brood sows run in the same lot
with colts or horses or in the same
barnyard. Do not give them the OPP
portunity to go from one field to an
other by jumping over broken fences,
or crawling through narrow openings.
Give them a place where they can
root to their hearts content. 1t is
good exercise, they enjoy it and it is
In keeping with their nature.
In addition to good care and kind
treatment the feed must be looked af-
ter carefully. Throughout the middle
states hogs are being fed largely on
corn which supplies in excess starch
a heat and fat producing material. At
the same time corn is deficient in pro-
tein, the flesh, bone, muscle and
strength producing material.
When feeding corn alone food is
not supplied to all parts of the animal
system uniformity; in other words, the
ration is not properly balanced. The
excess of starch produces too much
fat and keeps the sow's blood in a
feverish condition. Animal life, be-
fore birth, derives its nourishment
from the blood, and if by improper
J.. feeding the brood sow's blood is not
lin good condition it will reflect in the
size and strength of the pigs at birth.
The litter will probably be small in
number and the pigs sickly and runty.
To balance a ration simply means
to stop feeding an excess of starch,
and feed more of protein, the
strength, esh bone and muscle-pro-
ducing material.
Tankage, while fed before farrow-
ing, has many advocates among hog
men. but it must be used sparingly
when the pigs are under three weeks
old as it is very easy to ruin litter
of pigs by feeding the sow too heavily
on this feed. Shorts, or mill feed, oil
meal and tankage will balance the ra-
ton and are sold at prices that enable
the farmers to feed them at a profit.
Can Save Trees From Ice Damage
(By DIR. H. A. Surface, Pennsylvania
state LOOlOglSLJ
"The damage by ice TO trees is real
ly not as serious as it looks, for the
reason that it can be overcome by
proper methods of pruning and tree
surgery In many cases the break
ing of the trees is an evidence that
they were not correctly pruned. A
system of pruning that makes low
swaying branches is liable to result in
breaking either by ice during winter,
or by the load of fruit in the fall.
"Prune in such a manner as to
make short, sturdy branches with
several shoots to bear fruit or leaves.
Where a limb is broken off, prune it
by cutting off straight just above a
strong branch.
of the tree is so broken as to be
deformed, cut it back on all sides un-
til it is reshaped or equally balanced.
Cut out all central stems and cut
back the tips of branches in such a
manner as to keep the tops of trees
low and strengthen the branches that
remain.
"a tree that is the proper shape to
support a big load of ice without
breaking is also in proper shape to
support a big load of fruit, if it be
a fruit tree. The pruning of shade
trees is a matter of individual choice
but most of them do not receive
enough attention of this kind. If a