23 5 ELEMENTS OF FARM PRACTICE 



may be weaned with very little difficulty at any time after 

 they are six weeks old. If the sow is doing well, it is usually 

 better to leave the pigs with her until they are about twelve 

 weeks old. 



Comfort. — In fattening any kind of stock, comfort is an 

 important factor, and one who overlooks it is a loser there- 

 by. If hogs are fed in the field, a good soft and dry bed 

 should be provided for them or they will not do their best, 

 and they should always have a supply of fresh water. The 

 same is true if they are kept in the yard. Some feeders 

 claim, and with good reason too, that an armful of straw 

 may often be as valuable to a bunch of hogs as a bushel 

 of corn. 



Fencing is the most expensive part of furnishing pas- 

 ture for hogs, but as a rule it is cheaper than the labor of 

 caring for and carrying feed to the hogs would be. The 

 cost of fencing may be reduced by having comparatively 

 large, well-shaped fields, and by planning for them a rota- 

 tion that will furnish the maximum amount of feed. A 

 four-year rotation, of (1) grain, (2) clover, (3) and (4) 

 corn, on four fenced fields of uniform size, is very satis- 

 factory. One of the four fields would be in grain, one in 

 clover and two in corn, each year; the clover and the two 

 corn crops to be fed off by the hogs. 



Arrangement of Fields. — Four fields adjoining the farm- 

 stead, each }/2 acre to one acre in size, for each brood sow 

 kept on the farm, make it possible to produce both summer 

 and fall feed for hogs very cheaply. Each year one field 

 would be sown to grain and red clover seed, and another 

 field would be in pasture, and the other two in corn. Such 

 rotation once established would supply abundance of cheap 

 feed with the least labor. 

 Questions: 



1. What are some of the points worth considering in the selection 

 of a brood sow? 



2. What can you say concerning the care and shelter of brood 

 sows? 



3. How may young pigs be fed so they will not be bothered by 

 their mother? 



4. What is the best kind of summer feed for hogs, and how 

 supplied? 



5. In what way can the cost of fencing for hogs be reduced? 



