268 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



pens are cleaned. In order to prevent manure from accumulating under 

 these sills, we are planning to fill this space with concrete by first 

 tacting a board on one side and then filling the space with concrete 

 held tightly in place by a board tacked on the other side until dry. We 

 feel sure that this will remain in place and can be done much more 

 easily than at the time of the floor construction. The two-by-fours form- 

 ing the partition sills are^astened to posts at each end and are sup- 

 ported between by two pieces of gas pipe set in the cement and resting 

 in holes bored in the wood of the two-by-four above. The top of the 

 partition need not be more than three feet six inches above the floor. 

 With the possible exception of the boar, a hog that requires higher 

 fencing than this is an undesirable one to have. 



The yards on the north side of the building where the boars are kept 

 during a part of the season, are separated by board fences, this beirig 

 the only safe material for the divisions between them ; the ends of these 

 pens are, however, enclosed with woven wire. On the south side the pens 

 are constructed of woven wire, the method of construction being fully 

 described later in this publication. For all yard pens a fall of a little 

 more than a foot was established in the twenty-two feet in length, 

 giving most excellent results. The possibilities for securing a good 

 fall in every direction from the piggery should be one of the most im- 

 portant factors in determining its location Wallows in pig yards, con- 

 taining the drainings from the manure pile, putrid water and other 

 filth, are prolific breeders and distiibutors of disease. The yards on 

 both sides of this building have been covered with concrete floors. This 

 is serving an excellent purpose in preventing the hogs from rooting 

 holes and forming wallows against the foundations, and elsewhere. 

 The breeding hogs of course spend most of their time in the larger yards 

 and not on the cement pavement, but the paved yards will always be 

 accessible for all classes of hogs at times when the other yards are too 

 muddy to use. 



The loft above is about eight feet high at the posts and furnishes an 

 abundance of room for storage of straw, crates, crate materials, overlays, 

 troughs, etc. No meal feed is stored in the loft. In general food stuffs 

 stored in piggery lofts are continually exposed to extremely impure, 

 foul smelling air. 



In this piggery there is an average of one door, one window, and one 

 trap above, for each pen. The traps above are seldom shut and the doors 

 are sufiSciently loose to swing. With all these openings we have not yet 

 found an insufficient circulation of air. 



This illusi ration also shows the ropes and pulleys by which both doors 

 and ventilators are opened and closed from the central alley, there 

 being no doors opening into the pens from the alley. The openings A A 

 from the loft show how the bedding is supplied to the pens. 



The Pens and Their Fittings. — Reference to Fig. 39 shows the pens to 

 vary from six to ten ft^t in width. It also shows that the doors open- 

 ing into the yards are not all regularly located either in the center or 

 corners of tlie pens. This is due to the fact that the original openings 

 were utilized and could not be readjusted without completely recon- 

 structing the south side of the building. The doors of all pig pens should 

 be located in one corner; there are two reasons for this, in the first 

 place, if placed in the corner most remote from the direction of the 



