EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VII 355 



all of us — and that wouldn't do. So we have to average the thing up, 

 and the human being, anyhow, is such a complex organization in itself 

 that it takes a complete organization to meet his ideas. 



How about the management of the sows after we have selected them? 

 Housing might come first, because we have to build the house. That 

 is one of the first things We think about: Where are we going to 

 keep them? We must remember that a hog is not built like a sheep. 

 He has not that excessive wool covering one or two or four inches over 

 his back and sides. Therefore, he is not kept as warm as a sheep nat- 

 urally; so artificially we have to keep him warm, particularly in the 

 winter. Sheep do very well in open bunkers, because they are natur- 

 ally protected. Put sheep into a warm house that is good for hogs, 

 and they won't do well; the wool will lack luster, the sheep will be- 

 come "sluggish, and they will require more feed than if you put them in 

 those open conditions, protected from rain and wind storms, but not 

 particularly from cold. A brood sow under those conditions does not 

 do well; she makes an attempt to grow a big, heavy coat, but is 

 not successful. You want sheds with low walls, so that you won't 

 have to heat up a large amount of space in order to warm the particu- 

 lar shed or house in which they live. Plenty of bedding is necessary. 

 Then you should not feed them out in the rain and hail and snow. A 

 hog doesn't any more relish eating outside with the temperature 20 

 degrees below zero than yiou v/ould eating your Christmas dinner out 

 in the evergreens. Particularly is this true with a fattening hog. If 

 you make the hogs run out to eat, they run out, grab an ear of corn, 

 and run back; whereas, they ought to have seven or eight ears. Then 

 they are going backward rather than forward. This house should niot 

 only be warm, but it should be built as to furnish sufficient shelter 

 without overcrowding. It should be dry; hogs don't prosper very well 

 in damp quarters. It should be well ventilated, kept clean, and should 

 get a little sunshine now and then. 



What are the next points? Range and exercise. It is possible to 

 raise very strong and healthy pigs by having the sows in small lots 

 60x90 feet; but you have to use some schemes in lots of that sort to 

 induce action, like feeding them at one end and watering them at the 

 other. Another means of inducing exercise is to allow these sows to 

 follow cattle. Of course, when the sows get very heavy and clumsy, 

 it is sometimes advisable to take them out of the cattle runs, particu- 

 larly if the cattle are inclined to be a little rough and inconsiderate of 

 the pigs within. Give them ears of corn; they take more exercise than 

 if the corn is shelled; they chase the ears around and get a little dif- 

 ferent angle on them, and put their heads down. Scatter out a little 

 oats for them. Alfalfa is good; they will spend considerable time pull- 

 ing it out. Shut them out of the house sometimes on warm days; give 

 them range on pasture where they can find something; even let them 

 range on pasture where they can find, something; even let them run 

 in the corn fields on a nice day. When the snow is real deep, take 

 your snow plow and make a figure S and feed them at one end of the 

 figure, and they will follow the path around. 



