PIGS. 



To secure a good strong plant and a vigorous 

 progeny, pigs should not be allowed to breed 

 during the first year of their existence. 



The sow is very prolific, compared with other 

 large-sized quadrupeds, and for that end is pro- 

 vided with from twelve to sixteen teats. Her 

 period of gestation is sixteen weeks ; the number 

 of young varies considerably, being frequently 

 below ten, and occasionally rising to twenty. 

 The young pig is exceedingly delicate ; and the 

 brood sow should not be allowed to farrow in 

 winter, but in spring and autumn, when the 

 weather is less severe, and food more abundant. 

 Another peril to the litter arises from the semi- 

 carnivorous habits of the mother, which lead her 

 to forget the duties of nature, and devour her own 

 brood. She ought, therefore, to be well watched, 

 and fed abundantly at such periods. The male, 

 for the same reason, must be excluded altogether. 

 Not unfrequently, moreover, the young are crushed 

 to death by the mother, in consequence of their 

 nestling unseen below the straw. To prevent 

 this risk, a small quantity only of straw, dry 

 and short, should be placed below them. The 

 young are weaned when six weeks old ; and 

 after weaning, it is essentially necessary to feed 

 them with meal and milk, or meal and water, or 

 whey. 



Many persons labour under the notion that 

 swine, while breeding, should be kept lean ; but 

 nothing can be more erroneous ; for, after farrow- 

 ing, great part of those juices which would be 

 converted into milk, were she in good condition, 

 will naturally go towards nourishing her system. 

 When required for the purpose of fattening, the 

 male young pigs are cut, and the females some- 

 times spayed, which is an analogous process. 

 These operations should always be intrusted to a 

 farrier or other properly qualified person. At 

 weaning-time, it was also customary to 'ring' 

 the young pigs ; that is, to insert a ring of iron 

 in the cartilage of the nose, to prevent the animal 

 from grubbing and turning up the floor of the 

 piggery. In pigs intended to be turned to the 

 woods or fields, this process was especially neces- 

 sary ; and where requisite, is preferable to the 

 barbarous and less effectual plan of cutting off 

 the cartilage altogether. Though still done to a 

 considerable extent, the ringing is not now so 

 common as it was ; the improved construction of 

 piggeries, and the diminution of the herds and 

 droves in woods and fields, rendering it less 

 imperative. 



Pig-houses. 



The results which attended the better housing, 

 more careful breeding, and higher feeding of pigs 

 in comparatively recent years, have convinced 

 most people that any rickety structure is not 

 sufficient even for the accommodation of swine. 

 For many years, country-people regarded the 

 pig as the dirtiest, and least to be cared for, in 

 the way of housing, of all the animals in their 

 possession, and treated it accordingly. Prob- 

 ably few animals are less fastidious about the 

 source from which their food comes, or how it is 

 prepared, than the common pig ; but if properly 

 attended to, the natural habits of the pig are 

 more cleanly than was generally supposed. The 

 pig-sty should be preserved in the driest, clean- 

 est possible manner; the food regularly and 



udiciously supplied ; and the skin of the animal 

 curried frequently. The miserably built, open- 

 .hatched, imperfectly littered pig-house of old is 

 ortunately of rare occurrence nowadays. Im- 

 arovements are gradually progressing over the 

 country in the housing and feeding of pigs ; and 

 :he progress has been accelerated by the fact 

 that, in proportion to its advancement, the mis- 

 chievous propensities of the animal are dimin- 

 ished. 



Improved piggeries on a first-class farm should 

 consist of three kinds namely, for breeding, for 

 'ceding, and for weaned pigs. A few months ago, 

 a writer thus described the piggery of Messrs 

 fohn Moir and Sons, Garthdee, Aberdeen, where 

 about fifteen hundred pigs are kept : 'In two 

 arge sheds and courts are about two hundred and 

 ifty breeding-sows of various ages, sizes, con- 

 ditions, and breeds. In addition to this accom- 

 modation, there are one hundred and four pens or 

 boxes, floored with asphalt and Caithness pave- 

 ment, heated by steam-pipes, and conveniently 

 arranged in four or five double rows. These pens 

 are used by the young pigs, the boars, and the 

 animals undergoing the finishing-touch in feeding. 

 The breeding-stock is fed twice a day, and those 

 preparing for slaughter thrice.' The breeding-sty 

 should be about six feet by eight or nine feet, and 

 the yard in front a little larger. Rather less space 

 may do for the feeding-pigs, if only a pair be 

 intended to feed together. The accommodation 

 for newly weaned pigs should be at least double 

 the size specified above. Swine can scarcely be 

 too much exposed to the sun, in whose rays the 

 animals are fond of basking. Pigs like heat, as is 

 proved by the manner in which they especially 

 the higher-bred ones bury themselves among the 

 straw or litter in cold weather. The wooden and 

 paved floors of the piggeries are being to some 

 extent superseded by the introduction of asphalt, 

 which proves satisfactory, if litter is fairly plentiful 



Fig. i. Crosskill's Feeding-trough. 



In the more modern piggeries, as at Garthdee, a 

 perfect system of draining away the liquid manure 

 has been introduced, and also a supply of water 

 for flushing purposes. 



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