232 ELEMENTS OF FARM PRACTICE 



(b) Their chief feed must be grain, at least for fatten- 

 ing, and grain feed is more expensive than roughage. 



(c) They are more hkely to be taken off in large num- 

 bers by disease than are the other classes of live stock. 



Possibilities. — Hogs have probably been the means of 

 paying off more mortgages than has any other class of stock. 

 k young man wishing to make a start on the farm can well 

 afford to give careful attention to hogs. 



Figure 102 — A grand champion Poland China, courtesy of 

 Anderson Brothers, West Liberty, Iowa. 



A good brood sow should have from six to ten pigs at 

 a litter, and, if desired, may have two litters a year. Pigs, 

 when eight months old, should weigh 200 lbs., or more. If 

 a sow produces fourteen pigs in a year, and each pig when 

 eight months old weighs 200 lbs., she would produce 2,800 

 pounds of pork in a year, which at 8c. per pound would be 

 worth $224. 



Hog Cholera. — The most dangerous disease of hogs is 

 hog cholera, and it has caused the loss of millions of dollars' 

 worth of hogs in the United States. Veterinarians have 

 now discovered a method by which it is possible to vaccinate 

 hogs and prevent their having cholera. They vaccinate 

 in much the same manner as people are vaccinated to make 

 them immune to small-pox. Vaccination is quite expensive 

 and proper facilities are not always available; so it is well to 

 take every precaution to prevent the disease. 



Hog cholera is a contagious disease. That is, hogs are 

 very likely to take the disease if they come in contact with 



