SIXTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VIII. 649 



Farmers who have fenced their farms hog tight claim good results. 

 There is nothing better for young growing hogs and brood sows than to 

 be compelled to travel to the farthermost corners of the field to get their 

 feed. The exercise necessary promotes digestion, constitution and health. 

 We shovel out too much corn to young pigs, as it is so convenient and 

 easy. Have you ever stopped to note that the hogs raised, fed and finished 

 for the premium contests in the large show rings never get more than 

 two ears of corn per day? You will note also that these hogs are driven 

 a mile er two daily for exercise. 



After securing sufficient frame and constitution, I think the better 

 plan for finishing for market is to bring the hogs in closer quarters; 

 give plenty of thin swill, after which all the corn they will clean up twice 

 daily. I never let swill or feed stand and get sour. Shelled corn should 

 not be fed in troughs but thinly scattered over a smooth clean surface 

 necessitating better mastication and less waste. 



Much is being said about cement floors for pig pens. The cement 

 being so nearly like stone, unless the owner is very painstaking and 

 keep the pens well bedded, I fear the animal heat is not sufficient to draw 

 the frost in severely cold weather. The hogs are liable to contract rheu- 

 matism and the joints become enlarged. As lumber advances in price 

 more cement will be used. 



Taking for granted that the hogs weigh between two hundred and 

 twenty-five and three hundred pounds, which weights are most in demand, 

 I will endeavor to say something about getting them on the market 

 Farmers who finish out car load lots, which hequires from 15,000 to 17,000 

 pounds, find it quite satisfactory to ship their own hogs. Two or three 

 neighbors who have hogs of equal quality can join in shipping, but where 

 many small lots are turned together they fight and worry each other 

 causing heavy shrinkage. The agent should know your desire for cars 

 two or three days before time for loading. It is necessary to have the 

 floor of the car level. A bushel of ear corn for each two thousand pounds 

 of hogs, for a long haul, is sufficient feed in transit. 



Cars may be bedded with a small amount of straw during cold weather 

 but a wagon load of dirt or sand well sprinkled with water is better for 

 very hot weather. During the extremely hot season train men are 

 required to wet the hogs from hose attached to each water station on 

 their line. Hogs shipped to nearby markets should not be allowed to 

 drink at loading time, as it is stock yards rules to feed and water for a 

 good fill before being weighed up to the buyer. 



Care should be taken not to overload cars, as this cause* greater loss 

 than all else. The shrinkage on a car load to Chicago yards varies from 

 one hundred to five hundred pounds, according to quality of hogs, time 

 la transit and delay in reaching the scales. It is not absolutely necessary 

 to acompany hogs to market, although there is some satisfaction in 

 seeing the condition they are in as they are unloaded at the chutes. I 

 remember oi'-e time while standing on the platform watching the unload- 

 ing of whole trains, a young fellow who was trying to start a bunch of 

 hogs toward the feeding pens, turned to me and inquired whether I had 



