406 THE ESSENTIALS OF AGRICULTURE 



an opportunity to exercise its natural instincts. There are few 

 ailments and diseases of swine that cannot be prevented if clean 

 yards and houses and warm, dry beds are provided. By these 

 means cholera, pneumonia, and thumps may in a large measure 

 be prevented. An outbreak of cholera in the herd or in the 

 vicinity justifies prompt treatment with anti-hog-cholera serum. 

 The houses or sleeping quarters should be well ventilated, and 

 arranged so that the drafts will not blow directly on the hogs. 

 The beds should receive the sunshine and should not be wet, 

 damp, or dusty. It is advisable to clean and re-bed the houses 

 and remove all accumulations of manure and corncobs from the 

 pens or yards once a week. The houses and yards around the 

 eating places and sleeping quarters should be thoroughly disin- 

 fected with a strong solution of a standard dip or other disinfect- 

 ant, and as soon as they are dry they should be sprinkled with 

 air-slaked lime. The old-fashioned mud wallow should be elim- 

 inated and a cement pit that can be kept clean and sanitary 

 should be provided for the hogs during hot weather. The sani- 

 tary wallows should be located conveniently near to the summer 

 pastures. Crude oil or some standard dip may be used in these 

 wallows to prevent disease infection and to keep the herd free 

 from parasites. 



The herd should be kept free from lice and mange at all times. 

 Every hog should be sprayed with some standard dip at frequent 

 intervals, and it is a good practice to dip them every six or eight 

 weeks during the summer. If sanitary wallows are provided, 

 hogs need not be dipped so often. 



A mixture of wood ashes and salt with a little sulphur added 

 should be kept before the hogs at all times, or if wood ashes are 

 not available, the government hog tonic l should be used instead. 

 Both of these mixtures should be fed from a clean box placed 

 where it is protected from rain and snow. 



1 Wood charcoal, i pound; sulphur, i pound; sodium chloride (common salt), 

 2 pounds ; sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), 2 pounds ; sodium hyposulphite, 

 2 pounds ; sodium sulphate (Glauber salt), i pound ; and antimony sulphide 

 (black antimony), i pound. 



