The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1919-01-10

ment OF Agriculture)
In dealing with the diseases of hogs,
preventive measures must be most re-
lied on. The animals must be given
Cry and well-ventilated quarters, which
must be kept clean. Contrary to COM
mon belief, hogs have some habits
which raise them above other domes-
tic animals from the standpoint of
cleanliness. For example, unless COM
Telled to do so, hog will not sleep in
It's own filth. IF a part Of the floor Of
the pen is raised and kept well bedded
with straw, while the rest is not, all
excrement will be left on the Embedded
portion of the floor and the bed itself
will be always clean.
Attention to Feed.
In addition to cleanliness, close at
tention should be given to the feed,
so that nothing may be fed that will
convey the germs of disease, especial
ly tuberculosis, to the herd. If the
hogs are fed milk in any form OBJ
tanned from cows kept upon the same
farm, the cows should be subjected to
he tuberculin test. If they run with
he dairy cattle of the farm, tuber-
iulin test Of all the cattle Is none the
esq desirable. Animals dead from any
disease should not be fed to the hogs
until the meat has been made safe
by cooking. Skim milk or refuse from
( public creamery should not be fed
to hogs until 1t has been thoroughly
sterilized.
Feeding and drinking places should
be clean and the water supply pure.
Unless the origin is known to be I'M
contaminated and there has been no
possibility Of infection during It's
course, hogs should not be allowed ac-
cess to any stream. Wallows should
be drained out and kept filed up as
much as possible. At least once
month the quarters should be disin-
fected with air-slaked lime or a per
cent solution Of crude carbOlic acid.
These precautions will be found valu-
able aids in the destruction Of the va
rious animal parasites, as well as a
protection from some more serious
troubles.
Danger Of Inbreedng.
While inbreeding is the surest and
quickest means to fix type, it should
be resorted to with the greatest care.
The value Of the system Is that 1t en-
ables the breeder to intensity desira-
BILE characteristics In herd and
makes improvement possible In a
shorter time than where selection
alone Is used. 1t stands to reason
that If desirable characteristics can be
intensified the same will be true Of
undesirable ones. Much of the disas-
ter which seems to have followed in
breeding has probably been due to the
fact that this point was overlooked
or given only slight Importance, and
thus loss Of vitality and constitution
and susceptibility to disease have fol-
lowed. Therefore # the young breed
er contemplates inbreeding, he should
avoid matings that tend to unite SINH
lar defects. Not only should care be
taken TO prevent this In the animals
mated. but there should be no chance
of bad effects due to the inheritance
of undesirable characteristics from
parents and other ancestors. Some OF
the greatest work ever done In hog
breeding has been based on these prin-
ciples.
The straight corn diet, which many
hogs receive from one years END TO
the other also lessons vitality, and the
researches of the Wisconsin expert
ment station have shown that this is
probably brought about by retarding
the development Of the vital organs.
A minimum Of inbreeding and varied
diet. including, especially for breeding
stock. ample range, will therefore bet
Ter enable the herd to resist the at
tacks Of disease.
Advantage OF Isolated Hog Houses.
The advantage Of a number of small
portable houses, each ACCOMMODATING
a few hogs, rather than one large pig
gerry for the entire herd has been re-
ferred to previously. In districts
where cholera is prevalent these are
undoubtedly the best shelters. They
make IL more difficult to carry con-
20 ,,,on To all animals in the herd, and
the destruction Of one OF them In case
~ an outbreak does not entail great
exnense. An added advantage Is that
they may be moved from place 10
Mace as needed. While more work
Is necessary in feeding, the convent
once and safety from their use more
than Offset this disadvantage.
Quarantine Restrictions.
Whenever any animals are brought
~ the farm, or when animals are
..o.,rbt from shows or from neighbor-
rms. they should be kept apart
~. ne rest of the herd for at ieast
,hrce weeks. If they have been eA-
i.ssed TO hog cholera or swine plague