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separate from the rest of the herd for at least three weeks. The plan of using 

 portable pens and dividing the herd up into small groups has a marked advantage 

 over keeping the hogs in a large piggery, in case a contagious disease breaks out. 

 With the portable pens, all hogs are not exposed, and it is a simpler matter to effect 

 a quarantine. 



Hog cholera is the most dangerous contagious disease that the swine breeder 

 has to contend with. In case of an outbreak of either cholera or swine plague in 

 the neighborhood, a most rigid quarantine should be put into force. There should 

 be no visiting back and forth by either man or beast between infected farms and 

 those which are clear, because the virus which causes the disease may be easily 

 carried on the boots of the persons or the feet of animals. Even dogs have been 

 known to carry the disease from one farm to another. Dogs should be tied up 

 until an outbreak of this disease is under control. Carcasses of hogs which die 

 should be burned or buried so deeply that they are not likely to be dug up by dogs 

 or other animals, and disinfection should be systematic and thorough. 



Feeding for Health. — Feeding has been dealt with -in another place, but 

 the importance of feeding in such a way as to maintain vigor cannot be too deeply 

 impressed. Hogs which are fed in an injudicious manner have their vitality 

 weakened and are more likely to contract disease than those which have been 

 furnished a suitable ration. 



Light.— Sunlight is a good disinfectant, and an effort should be made to 

 admit plenty of direct sunligliL into all pens. It must be remembered that disease 

 germs flourish best in the dark. 



Ventilation and 'Dryness. — To the difficulty of securing adequate ven- 

 tilation in the piggery, may be traced a great many troubles which affect pigs. 

 Wlieumatism, bronchitis, pneumonia, and scours, the last mentioned being most 

 common m young pigs, are among the commonest winter troubles of swine, and 

 are generally caused by lack of ventilation and consequent dampness in the 

 building. Unless ventilation is provided and the pens kept reasonably dry, good 

 results cannot be expected. 



Lice. — When lice once become well established in a herd, it requires a good 

 deal of painstaking effort to eradicate them. They may be the cause of serious 

 loss, and lousy pigs cannot give as good returns for feed consumed as those which 

 are kept clean. It is also claimed by good authorities that lice weaken the vitality 

 of hogs and render them more susceptible to disease. 



Almost any of the better known dips will prove effective if used according to 

 directions. A two per cent, solution of creolin (2 parts creolin to 100 parts water) 

 makes i good dip for lice. Coal oil is very effective, but is apt to blister, and 

 should be applied lightly. Crude petroleum is excellent. It is inexpensive, does 

 not blister, and is more lasting in its effects than some patent preparations. 



In applying a dip, care must be taken to wet thoroughly all parts of the 

 animal's body. Lice are commonly found on the inside of the legs, about the ears, 

 or in the folds of the skin on any part of the body, and, unless the application of 

 dip is thoroughly made, many of them will escape. Dipping is one of the most 

 effective methods, and, when large numbers are to be treated, it is necessary to have 

 a special dipping vat through which the hogs are compelled to swim. The dip 

 may be applied also by means of a good spray pump, which forces the dip through 

 the hair, and into all crevices. It may also be applied by means of a broom. 



