Chapter LXXIII. 



HINTS ON SELECTION, CARE AND MANAGE- 

 MENT OF SWINE. 



The breeding and handling of swine is something of far more im- 

 portance than is generally supposed by a great majority of our farm- 

 ers those who should be, really, best informed on the subject. The 

 amount of pork that is consumed yearly in the United States is enor- 

 mous, and gives something of an idea of the magnitude of the swine in- 

 dustry. Many seem to think that the breeding of swine requires only 

 a little of the skill and foresight which is recognized as being of prime 

 necessity in the handling of any of the other races of domestic animals ; 

 but to such as have tried it we need not say the idea is a mistaken one. 

 True it is, that not so much of close attention and tender petting and 

 care to keep them from the rugged blasts of winter, and the fierce, 

 scalding heat of summer, is always given ; but it may be stated as an 

 axiom, that good care pays as well with hogs as it does with other races 

 of live stock. There is something fascinating about the feeding and 

 handing of a yard full of swine a sort of pleasurable excitement in day 

 by day watching their growth, and noting their greedy appetites. 

 Someway, the farmer always feels that an animal is gaining when it 

 eats, and a hog that won't eat is not the one that makes the profit for 

 his owner. 



We may state it as an indisputable fact that no other animal sus- 

 tains such a close relation to the farmer's profit and loss account as 

 does the hog, and the reason is obvious ; there is always more or less 

 waste generally more about a farm-house, that cannot be utilized in 

 any other way than by feeding it to hogs. It matters not how careful 

 the farmer's wife may be, she cannot prevent this constant waste from 

 the table, and the pig-pen is the natural and legitimate avenue through 

 which it can be turned to account. Every gallon of house-slop has a 

 certain definite value, and, although it is impossible to rate its worth in 

 dollars and cents, on account of the fact that there is great difference in 

 richness of the portions thrown from different tables, yet we may say, in 

 a general way, that every four to seven gallons of such waste is equivalent 

 to one pound of pork when properly fed in connection with grain or other 

 food stuffs. 



Perhaps the most common mistake made by the average farmer, is 

 to adopt one of two extremes either feed entirely on dry corn, all the 



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