FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 183 



FEEDING AND CARE OF SWINE. 

 WINSOR CRANE, Bridgeport, at SAGINAW COUNTY Institute, Saginaw. 



One of the essentials of success with pigs is in getting them started right. The 

 first few days great care should be taken not to overfeed the dam. About the third 

 day, clean out the nest and give them new bedding. A cold, wet, filthy nest is death 

 to pigs. In cold weather, if young pigs get very fat they sometimes die of thumps. 

 Thumps is caused by too much fat around the heart and not enough exercise. 



At about three weeks old, give the pigs some feed by themselves in a shallow 

 trough. Avoid sour feed; the stomachs of little pigs are very sensitive. Sweet 

 milk, with a little middlings, is gooa feed for them; skim milk alone is poor feed, 

 but when mixed three pounds of milk to one pound of corn meal, makes good feed. 

 Bran makes bone; oats make muscle; corn makes fat. Middlings is cheaper feed 

 than bran. Hogs should have access to salt, ashes and charcoal at all times. 



It takes less feed to produce tlie first 100 lbs. than it does the second 100 lbs., and 

 much less than it does the third 100 lbs. It takes about 11 per cent more feed 

 in winter than in summer. When fattening hogs on corn, feed but twice a day 

 what they will eat clean, and no more. A pig should weigh 200 lbs. at six months 

 old; have been made to weigh 243 lbs. at five months and ten days old; have been 

 known to gain 35 lbs. in nine days. Cooked potatoes, cooked pumpkins, rape and 

 artichokes, are good feed for growing hogs. Hogs will live on clover hay. We 

 should never forget that the hog is a grazing animal, and of all the feeds grass 

 'is the cheapest. In this respect !we have advantages that some may not be 

 aware of. 



The area most nearly surrounded by the Great Lakes lis influenced by the pres- 

 ence of these vast bodies of water. From this cause we have a moist and com- 

 paratively moderate climate. Besides this, we are where the cold air of the north 

 meets the moisture-laden return trade winds from tlie Gulf of Mexico, causing a 

 plentiful and pretty evenly distributed rainfall. Finally, we have a fertile soil. 

 Nothing more is wanting for the production of sweet, luxuriant and nutritious 

 grasses. Thousands of hogs go to market annually with no other fattening except 

 pasture. 



That our pork products are not inferior is seen in the fact that we exported 

 $82,971,681 worth of them in 1897. That the hog brings to our country more ready 

 cash than do all other live stock is seen from the fact that the horses, cattle, and 

 sheep and their products exported, amounted in 1897 to .$70,375,174; that is to say, 

 our much abused hogs brought ta America more of foreign gold by $6,596,507 than 

 did our exports of horses, cattle, beef, sheep and mutton, combined. 



WHAT SHALL WE TEACH OUR CHILDREN? 



MRS. LILLIA H. POMEROT, Sanilac Center, at WOMEN'S SECTION, SANILAC 

 COUNTY Institute, Sanilac Centre. 



Our children will be the men and Avomen of the next century. We are forming 

 the society of the next generation. What will that society be? Good and moral? 

 or vulgar and profane? Do we realize the responsibility? And we are also train- 

 ing immortal souls for time and eternity. Let us consider well what we teach 

 our children. 



The character forms very early. We can not tell when it begins to form, and 

 therefore we must begin our vigilance while the child is young or he will learn 

 from others that which the mother should have taught him. 



Teach truthfulness, not only by precept but by example. Try not to evade tell- 

 ing truths to the enquiring mind by telling something else that although not an 

 exact falsehood yet leaves a false impression on the young mind. We must tell 

 them of the life of Christ, and that he loved little children and said: "Suffer 

 little children to come unto me, and forbid them not." 



We must point out to them the evils of intemperance. Teach them how alcohol 

 and tobacco stunt the mind and body of the growing child. Tell them if they 

 wish to be wise, manly and womanly, they must let stimidants alon«. They 

 must not pollute God's image by using that which is unclean. 



