HOG RAISING. 



483 



them all they will eat of it. I also feed swill made from the 

 dish-water, and milk thickened with oats, rye, and corn, all 

 ground together. I wean the young pigs at two months old, 

 and fatten the sows for market, with the exception of those I 

 keep over for breeding purposes. Nearly all the male pigs are 

 castrated at about two months old ; a few of the very best, 

 however, are saved for sale as breeders. All that are not sold 

 or kept for breeders are put on the market at ten or eleven and 

 one-half months old, when they will weigh from two hundred 

 and fifty to three hundred and fifty pounds, gross. I sell my 

 brood sows that are fattened, in December. I get male pigs 

 each year from the best breeders of this stock. I think the 

 Poland China is the best breed of hogs for this country. I 

 might add that while the sows are suckling their pigs, they are 

 fed all the best swill I can make for them, believing that a good 

 start is of great importance in raising good hogs, as well as 

 other stock. I am surprised that so many farmers take so little 

 interest in the improvement of their stock. Men who show 

 judgment in most other matters, frequently show the poorest 

 kind of judgment in this. 



I have been breeding the Poland China for fifteen years in 

 this State, and while I have never exhibited at our State Fairs, 

 I have taken many premiums and sweepstakes at other fairs. 

 My hog house is twenty by forty feet, with a four feet feeding 

 alley and eight breeding, and four fattening pens., 



HOG HOUSE. 



This is a ground plan of the hog house. I can put in 



