148 



Breeding and Rearing Swine. 



Vol. IV. 



that every manufacturer shall be satisfied, 

 with the results, in that he will be able to ob- j 

 lain even a very fine third quality of sugar." j 



The process above mentioned is conducted : 

 by dessication and maceration; but when; 

 Mons. Laurance proposes that the concentre- 

 lion and finishing should be carried on over I 

 naked fires, he displays an ignorance of the j 

 value of steam for this purpose, which, m 

 such a person, is scarcely excusable. 



James Pedder. 



Philadelphia, 19th Nov. 1839. 



From the Franklin Farmer, published at Frankford, Ky. 

 Breeding and Hearing Swine. 



For economy, I would advise the farming 

 community to select out of their herd of j 

 swine, every spring, as many female pigs as j 

 they may think will produce them as many 

 pigs as they may be prepared to rear through! 

 the winter for family or market use, and to 

 have this lot of young sows kept in a lot suf- 

 ficiently close to prevent males fi-om gettmg 

 to them. Should the grazing on the blue 

 grass or clover not be sufficient to keep them 

 in a good healthy growing condition, I would 

 advise a small proportion of corn, given regu- 

 larly morn and noon, to assist their regular 

 growth. And as I have, from my own ex- 

 perience with a lot of eleven head, having 



farmer that has his plan laid out to rear a 

 crreat number of hogs, consequently must buy 

 a stock, or sell their grain at reduced price. 

 I have experienced the loss more than once, 

 to a considerable amount, consequently I have 

 postponed breeding, as before mentioned. 

 Thus I have the security of better weather 

 and the benefit of vegetation, which has a 

 good tendency to correct any indisposition in 

 sows, which firequently occurs in animals an 

 well as human beings. They are subject ta 

 inflammatory colds, and fever succeeding, 

 dries up their milk, the pigs perish and death 

 intervenes. To insure the farmer a quick 

 and rapid growth in his lot of pigs, let them 

 come about the last of April, (say 20th,) 

 which is far preferable to March pigs, which 

 have sustained much injury while very young: 

 stunted by frost and hunger, they cannot be 

 well resuscitated by the best of attention af- 

 terwards. 



In an ordinary way, sows suckle their 

 young in the spring from six to eight weeka, 

 but in the fall the sows frequently wean their 

 young in about six weeks. I would say, to 

 make your pigs thrive and grow on without 

 much injury ^in their looks from weaning 

 time, the better way h to prepare a covered 

 pen for your pigs, and have a hole sufficiently 

 large so they can go in and out at pleasure, 

 and always keep shelled corn by them, 



only ordinary blue grass woodland pasture, a.iv. c.v.^j. ..^^t- ^-— --- ----- - . 



„ie a reguL. pracUce n,or„_ and noon, o f" -l"'»f «",!'" ifat/irS 



giving them eight or ten ears of corn at a 

 feed,1 can say with safety, by so doing you 

 will be well paid for your husbandry. Your 

 sows will have health, good sleek coats of 

 hair and good stamina, and they will not be 

 hurried, in their growth— then the animals 

 will be much more capable of propagating. 

 Young sows kept in this way, will weigh 

 from 120 to 160 pounds when about eight 

 months old. 



Sows are susceptible of conceiving when 

 four or five months old; but for better; 

 size and form, I would recommend not to 

 breed them until they are about eight montlis 

 old, that their first littering will be when 

 they are about twelve monliis oi" age. Sows 

 impregnated from Die 20th to tlie last of De- 

 cember, will bring pigs from the 10th to llie 

 30th oti^April, as' the" period of gestation is 

 about one hundred and twelve days. I hive 

 a number on record of the above age, and find 

 their produce to be from eight to thirteen 

 pigs a litter. I know t!u; usual wants of the 

 farmers, by hearing tiiem frequently observe, 

 by their fireside, " lot mo have my stock of pigs 

 to come the first of March." and at the sanv 

 time, unconscious of Uie danger of scvero 

 storms and cold bla-sts in March— and the lit- 

 tle economy they have in providing sheltrrs 

 tor tlicir sows— friMjucntly lose their entire 

 stock of pigs, which is of no small value to a 



they are about three weeks old, and it wiU 

 aid the sow in rearing them— consequently 

 they will wean them kindly, and grow CO 

 without any ill effects which are common to 

 weaning. "These pigs will have age andsuf- 

 ficient growth by good clover and blue gras 

 —will winter kindly, which will insure the 

 farmer a regular growth in his lot of hogs by 

 the common mode of corn feeding, or follow- 

 ing corn-fed cattle, the excrements they c^ 

 lect from them are equal to cooked or steamed 

 malt. After weaning their litter of pigs, ' 

 would advise all the old sows to be spayed. 

 while reduced in flesh by suckUng, as the 

 period is most favorat)le. A careful hand 

 performing the operation in the left side,l 

 seldom oi° never lose any of that age m 

 liealthy rearing. They will fatten kindly, 

 and make ab<:)ut as much weight at seliU»B, 

 time as their brotliers of the same litter. W 

 now porccive I do not winter any hogs more I 

 than one winter. I can say from experie«» 

 that sows with pig winter better than bar- 

 rows. They should be kept in a large wooj- 

 land pasture, if practicable, by themselve8,to 

 prevent any injury from other hogs. Be (^ 

 \\\\ to have a house or shelter to protect m 

 in inclement weather. Continue to seler 

 overy spring the best female pigs out of you^j 

 litters, as many as you may think will pf| 

 duce as many pigs as you may want to bree* 



