SWINE HOUSING AND FATTENING. 973 



describe and illustrate was made warm, with the cracks battened 

 and a tight floor overhead not more than seven feet from the 

 feeding-floor, I think a large stove would soon raise the tem- 

 perature so that there would be no danger of pigs chilling in 

 the worst weather. I do not recommend hot-house treatment 

 for pigs, and probably no fire would be needed after they were 

 a week old, and in favorable springs it might not be necessary 

 to fire up at all ; but it would certainly pay in bad seasons, and 

 the expense would be so small that the saving of a single litter 

 of good pigs would pay for putting up the stove. 



Swill-barrels and Troughs. An inspection of the swill-, 

 barrel on many farms would reveal one cause of unthrifty pigs. 

 In summer it would often be found sour as vinegar and in win- 

 ter frozen. Hogs will eat and thrive on fermented food, and I 

 think fermentation, when properly regulated, of great value to 

 them ; but as a loaf of bread burned to a cinder is ruined by 

 the process of baking, which is necessary to prepare it for 

 food, so a barrel of swill can be rendered unfit even for the 

 stomach of a hog by excessive fermentation. In hot weather 

 fermentation is so rapid that it is necessary to give attention to 

 the swill-barrel every day. The better way is to have two bar- 

 rels, and empty one each day, and in this way the swill will 

 not become too sour. When I use but one barrel I stir once a 

 day enough meal to last twenty -four hours. The best time to 

 do this is after feeding in the evening, so there will be time for 

 it to be well soaked and fermentation to begin before the next 

 feed. I leave a little of the old swill in the barrel to act as 

 leaven to start it, and adjust the amount to the weather. If 

 quite warm less will be required, and if cool more. 



In cold weather I raise the temperature by the addition of 

 boiling water, and either use two barrels or add a little bran 

 and meal each time I feed, for I wish to have the food slightly 

 fermented the year round, and with proper management I find 

 this as easy in winter as in summer. 



For winter I pack the swill-barrel in sawdust. I set it in a 

 box of such size that there shall be a space of at least eight 

 inches around it, which I fill with dry sawdust. The box 



