15 



Other feeders in the neighbourhood feed much after the same system as the two Messrs. 

 Smith. One other feeder, it might be mentioned, makes cheese at home from the milk of 

 sixty cows. The whey is fed with barley meal to pigs. It is mixed one meal ahead. Both 

 pigs and grain are purchased. The pigs at 4 months old cost $10 each, while barley meal 

 cost $1.35 per 100 pounds. At this time the price of pigs was practically 13 cents per 

 pound dressed weight, equal to about $9.50 per 100 pounds live weight. This feeder 

 claimed his pigs made a good profit. 



On one farm visited pigs are bred and fattened. The litters are weaned at 8 weeks, 

 then allowed to run out for 4 to 6 weeks before being put up to fatten. They are made to 

 dress 180 pounds at from 6 to 7 months old. They are fed three times a day on one part 

 bran and five parts barley meal made into a slop with milk and water mixed one meal ahead. 

 Another feeder finds virtue in the use of raw linseed oil. Half a gallon given to 64 pigs per 

 day in their feed was claimed to keep the digestive system in fine condition, insuring rapid 

 gains. 



Breeding and Rearing. 



A large proportion of the pigs fed in the county of Wiltshire are bred in the east of 

 England, chiefly in the county of Suffolk. Many finished pigs cured by the Harris firm 

 are shipped from this county. To learn how pigs are bred and reared the Commission visited 

 Suffolk where they were taken charge of by Mr. Maurice Wright, who manages the pig 

 department of the Eastern Counties Co-operative Farmers' Association. Mr. Wright 

 handles about 1,000 hogs per week for the members of this association. He keeps in touch 

 with all the available markets and sells to the best possible advantage. By the adoption 

 of this system of selling, a very effective combination of middJemen buyers has been entirely 

 broken up. 



In the part of Suffolk visited a very large number of pigs are reared. It is estimated 

 that fully eight brood sows are kept for every 100 acres of land farmed. About 50 per cent 

 of the produce of these are shipped out as stores to be fattened elsewhere, many going to 

 the Wiltshire district. A very general reason given the Commission for raising so many 

 pigs was that it afforded an excellent means of keeping up the fertility of the soil. Through 

 the co-operation of the members of the association heavy supplies are avoided in seasons of 

 probable low prices. Many of the sows kept are of the Large Black breed, and these are 

 usually crossed with the Yorkshire. Pigs bred in this manner are extremely popular with 

 the farmers visited. Comparatively little milk is available for pig feeding in this county, 

 hence the selling of so many hogs in store condition. Not only are feeders anxious to have 

 milk for finishing, but packers of Wiltshire sides are extremely partial to milk fed hogs. 

 Shorts, bran and roots comprise a large proportion of the foods used for breeding and young 

 pigs in Suffolk. To these foods barley is added for fattening hogs. Where raisers have 

 available pasture land sows are given their liberty in summer, but high rents makes this 

 unprofitable on many farms. 



Scotland. 



The districts in Scotland visited by the Commission consisted chiefly of the counties 

 lying between Glasgow and the southern coast. In this part of Scotland dairy farming is 

 the rule. Nearly every farm has a good milking herd from which either cheese or butter 

 are produced. Outside of these counties comparatively few hogs are reared except near 

 cities and towns which furnish large quantities of kitchen offal. In the cheese sections 

 the home of the Scottish Chedder the majority of farmers makes up their own milk at home. 

 Each, therefore, makes upon his farm a large quantity of whey, and to consume this he 

 maintains a good stock of feeding swine. As a rule these are not bred upon the farms, 

 but bought in at 3 to 4 months old. Unless one breeds his own pigs his pens are likely to 

 be empty during the winter months, as the Scots farmer, like many others, does not believe 

 pigs can be fed profitably without dairy offal, more especially during the cold season of 



