No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 487 



In hog raising a good start is important. A stunted pig is often 

 a losing proposition and this conditions is easily brought about by 

 improper feeding of the mother in the early days of the youngsters 

 lives. Little feed and that of a somewhat bulky and easily digested 

 kind should be the rule for the first few days. After the litter is 

 a week old if all has gone well the embargo on feed may be raised 

 and good feed and plenty of it supplied, soon as the little fellows 

 manifest a desire to eat a side table, accessible to them, supplied 

 with such as they like will push them along up towards 300 pounds 

 at eight or nine months old. Grass, clover, rape, peas are good for 

 growing hogs ; so are potatoes, apples and roots generally, remember- 

 ing that potatoes and roots should be cooked. 



Although the dog nuisance has nearly wiped out the sheep indus- 

 try in some sections of the State, a report on livestock will not be 

 complete without reference, at least to it. We have in Pennsylvania 

 some sections well adapted to sheep raising. For some of our hill- 

 sides it is not best to practice a regular system of rotation cropping, 

 on account of the tendency to wash. Some of these may be made 

 ideal pasture lands for sheep, which, if not overstocked, will grow 

 more and more fertile under the tread of the ''golden hoof." The 

 price of wool and mutton fluctuates more than some other commodi- 

 ties, but they usually bring remunerative prices at some time in 

 the 3^ear. Wool may be stored with no risk of deterioration and is 

 sure to be in demand at no distant day. The demand for mutton 

 is increasing and lamb — not the cold storage kind — is nearly always 

 at a premium. As the Western ranges are, cut up into farms, sheep 

 husbandry Avill return to some of the rugged hills of our State and 

 give good returns for labor and care bestowed upon it. 



Poultry is often put in a class by itself and treated as a separate 

 production from livestock, but its aggregate value, which has been 

 increasing very rapidly of late years, attest its importance and puts 

 it far upon the list of income sources to him w^ho will give the neces- 

 sary care. No farm is complete without its flock of poultry. Village 

 and town residents, too, whenever they have room have a poultry coop 

 larger or smaller as space and inclination determine. Where other 

 stock can not be kept, poultry may be made to consume the crumhs 

 that fall from tlie table and make good returns in eggs, broilers, 

 roasters and stews as well as in the enjoyment their care affords. 



Secretary Wilson places the yearly product of poultry at 500,000,- 

 000 of dollars, truly a magnificent sum surpassed by only a few of 

 the leading sources of income from the farm. The hen is omnipresent. 

 The turkey, goose and duck are somew^hat more restricted, but they 

 too may be made valuable where surroundings are congenial. 



There is another bird sometimes domiciled on the farm that de- 

 mands a paragraph. The honey-bee. while not a beast nor bird, may 

 approj)riately be classed with the livestock on the farm. A few en- 

 thusiasts make a fair income from a bee-yard, and there is no good 

 reason Avhy many more farmers might not add this to their sources of 

 profit and enjoy men f, especially since so little care, expense and risk 

 are required to secure at least a supply of honey for the home table. 

 Buckwheat cakes and honey for breakfast on a frosty morning! 

 Think of them ! 



