362 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



free from fever and constipation, she will not only do her work easily and 

 quickly, but present you a litter of strong, vigorous pigs that will have 

 the courage of their convictions and be ready from the start to put up a 

 good lively scrap for their meals. If you think this too much trouble and 

 choose to let her take her chances and some morning run onto a litter of 

 dead pigs, have your swearing machine wound up and be ready to cuss 

 luck, Providence or anyone except yourself. We do not mean to say 

 there is no such thing as bad luck in the swine business, but much so 

 attributed belongs to loose management. 



If everything has come our way, we are now ready to grow, fatten 

 and market the hog. We would give the pigs nothing to eat for the first 

 two weeks at least except the food nature provides through the dam, and 

 be careful they do not get too much of that as this is the most critical 

 time in the life of the hog, being the age for such ailments as thumps, 

 scours, canker mouth, bad teeth, etc. It is an easy matter at this time 

 to blast the prospects of the finest litter. But as they soon grow older 

 and with a fair sized litter the danger of overfeeding through the dam 

 has passed by the time the pigs are three weeks old and a new danger 

 arises Now be particularly careful not to underfeed the dam, as a pig 

 once stunted never makes as good or profitable animal as if growth had 

 not been checked. 



By this time the youngsters will need a sort of lunch counter or placs 

 In the pen or yard where larger hogs cannot enter and there begin feeding 

 them a little shelled corn and when they catch on, which will not take 

 long we would add other feeds of a lighter mixture, as too much corn 

 causes them to lay on fat at the expense of frame and vigor, of which 

 the hog with no higher aim than the pork barrel needs a certain amount. 



We would say first, last and always, don't let them stop growing for 

 a day, and as the object sought is profit, we would use such feeds as would 

 make the greatest gain at the least expense. It does not take an observ- 

 ing person long to determine what this feed is. It has been said corn is 

 king, but we claim the title should rest with grass, as we are thoroughly 

 convinced no amount of swine raising can be successfully carried on with- 

 out grass, and the greater the variety the better. While we would not 

 try to raise pigs on grass alone, we would not think of trying to raise 

 them without it unless it might be on a dairy farm with plenty of skim 

 milk in sight. 



Give the dam the range of a good pasture with abundant shade and 

 dry, comfortable sleeping quarters, a never empty cup of pure water, a box 

 of salt within easy reach at all times, and, as we said before, feed that 

 which will do the work the cheapest. For this last no ironclad rule can 

 be laid down for what might be the proper thing at one time on account 

 of price may be out of the question at another. So it becomes a question 

 each one has to decide for himself. We would say that when good wheat 

 or oat shorts are as cheap or nearly so as corn, would make it at least 

 half of the grain ration and feed enough to make a good growth. See 

 that they take exercise enough to avoid getting too fat until about -six 



