REPORT ON SWINE. 19 



be overlooked. Without good feeding it is impossible to 

 secure the lull benefit of well-bred stock. For this reason, 

 the swine claimed to have originated out of "swill pail" by 

 " corn bin " are usually fat, showing the result of good feed- 

 ing, if not good breeding. If sows are served in December, 

 they will farrow in April. The period of gestation is usually 

 sixteen weeks and three days. When the pigs are two or 

 three weeks old, they should be fed in an enclosure separate 

 from the sow, with milk in a small trough. They learn 

 quickly; and, although they take but little at first, as they 

 grow they consume more and more : so that, by the time they 

 are ready to be taken from the sow, there will be no check 

 to their growth, besides being, if properly fed, much larger 

 than pigs that only suckle the sow, and superior to them. The 

 drain on the sow will be much less : therefore she will be in 

 better condition for immediate breeding; again. We never 

 found any thing quite equal to milk to make pigs grow. 

 Next to this are oats ground fine, and made into a gruel or 

 porridge, and thoroughly cooked. 



Six or eight times a day is not too often to feed young 

 pigs. Give them all that they will readily eat up clean, and 

 no more. Do not overfeed : " little and often " is the golden 

 rule. When the pigs are three months old, three times a day 

 will answer. Be regular in feeding. Feed just strong enough 

 to keep the stock in a good growing condition, but not to 

 fatten. We are satisfied that it pays to cook or scald the 

 meal fed to growing pigs, or what are commonly called 

 Khotes. This is easily done by placing the feed, say one half 

 meal, and the other half coarse bran, in an empty barrel that 

 is sufficiently tight to hold water. Pour upon the feed suffi- 

 cient boiling water to thoroughly scald it. This is to be cov- 

 ered up, and allowed to stand until next day's feeding; or, in 

 other words, the food is prepared before it is wanted in order 

 to give the meal time to cook and swell. As needed, it can 

 be made thin and sloppy, either with milk, or slops from the 

 kitchen, or water. Up to the time of fattening, we prefer to 

 scald the feed ; but, for fattening, we have serious doubts as 

 to there being any thing gained by this practice. It is true the 

 feed goes further, from the fact that they cannot eat so much 

 on account of its bulk. But it takes longer; and, where the 

 object is to induce the animal to eat all he can digest, bulky 



