CHAPTER XX. 



Castration 



The necessity of castrating the boar pigs for jKjrk- 

 niaking purposes is generally admitted, but the impor- 

 tance of spaying such sows as are not designed for breed- 

 ers has never been appreciated as it should, or as it is 

 likely to be when the rearing of swine is conducted on 

 such business principles as its importance demands. 

 Open sows, running with other stock hogs, are a source 

 of great annoyance, and where more than two or three 

 are kept, there is scarcely a time when some of their 

 number are not in heat, and continually chasing the 

 others, thus keeping them in a worried, fevered condi- 

 tion, extremely prejudicial to growth or fattening. If 

 all are properly sprayed, this is avoided, the hogs are 

 quiet and restful, and much time, annoyance and feed 

 are saved. 



.Ml feeders agree that no animals in the swine herd 

 feed more kindly and profitably than spayed sows, and 

 there are no buyers who would not as soon, or sooner, 

 have them than barrows, when they would not buy a lot 

 of open sows at any price. An open sow, when fat, 

 of the same dimensions externally as a spayed sow or a 

 barrow, generally weighs from ten to 20 pounds iess. 



To the feeder, the buyer, or the butcher, unspayed 

 sows are usually, in one way or another, a cheat, as they 

 may weigh more than they are worth from having a 



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