SWINE 333 



Success of the serum treatment. The success of the 

 serum treatment is still questioned by many. It seems rea- 

 sonably certain, however, that where failure has followed its 

 use, it was because the serum was improperly prepared 

 or not skilfully administered. Various experiment stations 

 have found that there is a loss of only about ten per cent, 

 of the hogs treated in herds already infected, and of only 

 one or two per cent, in well herds where the serum treat- 

 ment has been carefully used. The manufacture of serum 

 by the state, or official inspection of its manufacture by pri- 

 vate plants, will make its use as a cholera preventative still 

 more effective. No one is justified in failing to treat his 

 herd with the serum when hog cholera threatens. 



TOPICS FOR INVESTIGATION 



1. Make a census of all the hogs on your home farm, 

 classifying them into the following groups : brood sows, 

 suckling pigs, young shoats, and fattening hogs. Have 

 your father help you estimate the value of each group, and 

 compute the value of all. 



2. What different breeds are represented on your farm ? 

 Are the breeds pure or mixed? 



3. At what time of the year are the pigs farrowed ? At 

 what age are they weaned? At what age is fattening 

 started ? Are your young pigs allowed the range of a pas- 

 ture? If so, what is the grass used? What feed is used 

 in addition? 



4. Is attention given on your home farm to feeding 

 hogs a balanced ration? If so, what are the feeds used? 

 What is the ration used for fattening? 



5. If, when pigs are allowed to "hog down" corn it 

 takes eight pounds of corn to produce one pound of pork, but 

 requires ten pounds of corn to make a pound of pork when 

 the corn is fed in a pen, what will be the difference in the 

 value of the corn fed twenty hogs while they are making an 

 average gain of seventy-five pounds each, corn being worth 

 fifty-five cents a bushel ? 



