SWINE breeders' association. 579 



and has at each litter raised only a small number of pigs, thus causing 

 a number of teats to dry up prematurely so that she will henceforth be 

 an uneven suckler, and raise pigs of all shapes and sizes, or if she be a 

 neat little compact animal that has had a reasonable amount of size forced 

 upon her by excessive feeding of very rich and very palatable foods, 

 has been permitted to lie in her bed between meals and look pretty and 

 grow gouty, the most profitable treatment for such sows and litters, 

 whether under the management of the farmer or breeder, is to destroy 

 the litter at the first opportunity and market the sow for pork at what- 

 ever time and at whatever price she may be made to go upon the market, 

 because such sows and litters are always unprofitable even with the 

 ablest and most intelligent management. On the other hand, if she be 

 of a large, growthy type; if she be of intense breeding that will insure 

 her to reproduce herself, if she be of a family that produces regularly 

 eight to ten pigs of uniform size at a litter and two litters each year; if 

 she be of a kind, quiet disposition and a heavy even suckler from all of 

 her teats, thus insuring continued uniformity in the size and development 

 of her litter, by proper care and management one's hope for profit will 

 be realized. Carry the sow to near a year of age on a liberal allowance 

 of a well balanced but somewhat bulky ration, and allow her plenty of 

 range to induce exercise. At about this age breed her for the first time 

 to a well bred, desirable type of mature boar, and so time the breeding 

 that the sow will farrow near to the first of April or first of October 

 each year. Let the sow and boar be of the same breed and let them be 

 pure bred to insure uniformity of style, type and appearance of the litter. 

 It is especially important that the sow attain considerable size that 

 she may carry considerable extra flesh to suckle off to the litter; besides, 

 no one thing adds more to the appearance of the country home than to 

 see every variety of farm animal be of uniform appearance and represent 

 a good type of some pure breed. It is of as much importance that the 

 sow that is intended for a brood sow be handled from time of farrow 

 so that she becomes perfectly quiet and tractable, so that she can 

 be changed from one place to another without causing her any 

 special uneasiness. She should be as tractable at all times and 

 as quiet and safe to work about as the horse or the cow. After breeding, 

 continue the sow on the liberal well-balanced bulky ration up to farrow- 

 ing. Cut clover hay mixed with ground feed and made into a slop is 

 especially well adapted to give bulk to the ration for the brood sow. Sows 

 so cared for should farrow their pigs near to the hundred and sixteenth 

 day after breeding. A good sleeping house is as essential to success 

 with the sow and litter as is feed or breeding. One of the best sleeping 

 houses may be made about six feet wide and eight feet long, sided up 

 on the outside of the studding with matched siding and the side walls 

 covered on the inside first with tarred roofing board and this in turn cov- 

 ered with half-inch sheeting of rough lumber, with a plank floor made 



