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STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTUKE. 



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

 prevailing wind, greater protection is afforded the pigs in the pen when the door 

 is open, and second it allows the proper construction of overlays. 



Overlays. — What they are and the necessity for their use leads to a short, but 

 necessary, discussion of flooring materials. The plank floor which has been so 

 universally used in the past for piggeries, has now become almost impracticable 

 owing to the scarcity of such material and its high cost; the use of hard wood is 

 entirely out of the question and pine floors are short lived. It is almost impossible 

 to construct a wood floor so as to make it water tight and provide good sanitary 

 conditions. Dry earth floors would be ideal for the sleeping quarters for pigs 



FKi 1. 



if they could be kept dry and clean. At tlic present time there is no floor in 

 use in piggeries more desirable or inexpensive, considering durability, than one 

 properly constructed of concrete nor can as good sanitary conditions be main- 

 tained by the use of any other. And yet, notwithstanding these good qualities, 

 cement floors are strongly objected to. and justly so too. on the ground that pigs 

 become crippled if required to nest in beds on them during the winter season. 

 Even though an abundance of bedding is used on cement floors, bad results seem 

 to follow just the same. There are few Avorse places for a brood sow to farrow 

 than on a cement floor. She gathers the small amount of bedding allowed her 

 into a small pile, beds on it and the newly born pigs wriggle off on the bare 

 floor, which being slippery, prevents them from getting on their feet, the cold 

 floor soon exhausts them, and they perish. It was with the object of overcoming 

 these objections to the cement floors that overlays were used. 



Figs. 3 and .J show two pens, each ten by fourteen feet but with two different 

 forms of overlay. Fig. 3 shows an overlay running across the center of the 



