82 Bulletin 141. 



In view of this clanger it seems better to abandon altogether the 

 habit of giving dish water to hogs. Although the feeding of garbage 

 is generally condemned, the scraps of vegetables and table refuse could, 

 perhaps, if properly collected, be used with safety. But certainly pure 

 water is a much more wholesome drink, even for swine, than dirty dish 

 water. When the subject of " swill feeding" as a business is studied 

 and the conditions, as they exist, are understood, the wonder is, not 

 that some of the hogs die, but rather, that any of them live. 



It is not presumed that the poisoning by carbonate of sodium is the 

 only cause of death among swill-fed hogs. Other destructive agencies 

 are liable to be found in the decomposing garbage. The results of the 

 investigation, which the necessity of good farm hygiene demands, will 

 very likely disclose the specific nature of many of them. Another fact 

 worthy of consideration is that the investigation of the last year shows 

 that nearly all of the outbreaks of hog cholera and swine plague which 

 came to our attention started among herds of swine fed upon garbage 

 and swill collected from the sources above mentioned. This is signifi- 

 cant, and it points to the undesirableness of feeding garbage to animals. 

 In fact, if the total losses it occasions are counted, it is questionable if 

 anything is gained in this attempt to save waste products. It is stated 

 in the official reports of the U. S. Department of Agriculture that in 

 1896 12 per cent, (which amounts to 5,440,176) of the hogs in this 

 country died from disease. 



Again, it has long been recognized that the feeding of garbage to 

 hogs furnishes one of the most favorable channels for the introduction 

 of hog cholera and swine plague bacteria. As a rule, wherever we 

 find hogs in clean, well ventilated pens and fed upon wholesome food, 

 we find thrift and health, and, conversely, where these animals are 

 surrounded with disgusting filth, and fed upon decomposing slops or 

 other unwholesome food, we expect to and often do find disease. 



It is unfortunately becoming a too prevalent habit among our 

 farmers to assume, as soon as one or two pigs die, that some infec- 

 tious disease, such as hog cholera, is among them. It is further 

 most unfortunate that they frequently entertain the fatalistic notion 

 that a remedy is beyond their reach. Fully 25 per cent, of the out- 

 breaks of reported hog cholera which we have investigated during the 

 past year have not been hog cholera or any other known infectious 

 disease. While it is true that when hog cholera becomes well 



