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STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



which may have accumulated underneath is cleaned out. When the floor is 

 cleaned, the overlay is let down and the bedding thrown off on the floor for 

 absorbent being replaced by fresh straw at least once a week. When the overlay 

 is placed in the corner of the pen, that portion of the floor should be raised 

 somewhat. 



Both forms of overlay, now in use in the piggery, were constructed from second 

 hand inch lumber; they are raised off the floor by inch cleats which hold the 

 boards together. A two-by-four was set up around the outer edges of the overlay 

 to hold the bedding in place. (A two-by-six may be used.) These were nailed 

 to the boards below and strengthened by triangular pieces of scantling fastened 

 in the angle formed by the two-by-four and the board floor. In the use of these 

 overlays three facts have been strikingly noticeable, viz.: First, pigs invariably 

 use the overlays, by preference, sleeping on the bare board if there should be 

 no straw on them; second, of the three or four hundred hogs that have been 

 housed in this piggery there are few instances where the bedding on the over- 

 lays has been befouled by excreta and the tendency to this is much less in the 

 case of the overlays in the pen corners where the pigs are not trampling over 

 them; third, we have not had a crippled hog in the piggery since these devices 

 have been in use. We dislike the plan of boarding or planking over the entire 

 cement floor surface of a pen during the winter even for farrowing, as dung and 

 urine work in between and under the boards or planks producing very unsani- 

 tary conditions. 



F16. 5 



Figs. 3 and 4 also show one of the two forms of doors used in the piggery. 

 These doors swing inward from the top and are opened from the central alley 

 by a small rope operating over two pulleys as shown in Fig. 2. A light steel 

 rod shaped door spring, fastened to the casing and top of door, forces it shut. 

 Both the ' door casing and sill are widened by a two-by-six inch boxing which 

 prevents the pigs from getting their noses under the bottom or side of the 

 door to get out. A pig can come in but cannot get out if the door is closed. The 

 only objection to this form of door is that an extremely severe southerly gale pushes 

 them open a little and lets in too much cold; this is prevented by the use of small 

 bolts for emergency cases. On the north side of the building the doors were 

 constructed to slide up and down, but these could not be used on the south side 

 without shutting off some light, the windows being directly over the doors. In 

 addition to a door, each pen on the south side has a window above it and also a 

 hinged panel to one side of the window which may be opened in suitable weather 

 to admit additional sunshine and fresh air. 



Troughs. Fig. 5 shows the feeding troughs with swinging partitions suspended 

 over them in such a way that when swung back the pigs are shut away from 

 the troughs while the feed is being supplied, and when swung forward again in. 

 place, they have access to them. This is no new invention for the device, with 

 many modifications, is used in numerous farmers' piggeries. The only wonder 

 is that it is not more universally used. The top of this swinging partition 

 consits of a two-by-four from which the three-foot partition made of inch boards 

 swings by hinges. This partition is held in place at all times by a half-inch 

 iron rod which slips up and down in staples, being received at the bottom in 

 holes bored in a hardwood cleat nailed across the center of the trough. This 

 fastening prevents the pigs from moving the partition at any time. If the pens 



