SWINE HOUSING AND FATTENING. 981 



I have often seen thirty or more hogs, varying in size from 

 three hundred pounds down to fifty or less, allowed to eat and 

 sleep together during the winter; and the large ones would 

 get more than their share of the food, and at night would 

 either overlay the smaller ones or crowd them out in the cold. 

 It is not uncommon, on a cold, frosty morning, to see a lot of 

 hogs come out of a damp bed, where they have been huddled 

 all night, the outer ones suffering with cold and the inner with 

 heat, and in the cold air they will steam like a furnace. Little 

 wonder that with such management disease and death ensue, 

 and the owner finds hog-raising unprofitable. 



The bed for hogs must be both dry and clean if we expect 

 them to thrive, and to insure this it is necessary to have a floor, 

 and to have it supplied with litter, which must be changed as 

 often as it becomes soiled or dusty. I have used corn-fodder 

 for a bed for hogs for several winters, as I find that they will 

 eat the blades and husks, and tear the stalks into shreds, so as 

 to make a very good bed, and one that will keep clean much 

 longer than straw. I like the plan of having the hog-house 

 adjoining the barn-yard, so that the hogs can run in the barn- 

 yard, and if this is kept littered as it should be there will be 

 no mud for them to carry into their sleeping-place. 



I think it necessary that fall pigs have special care in win- 

 ter. They should always be kept separate from the older hogs, 

 and given warm slop. It is also a matter of importance that 

 they be fed regularly, and only what they will eat clean. I 

 have never succeeded in keeping hogs thrifty and growing when 

 fed so much that soiled corn was to be found in the pens at all 

 times or swill left to freeze in the troughs. With proper care 

 und watchfulness there is no difficulty in keeping the stock hogs 

 thrifty and growing through the winter. 



I have in the cattle chapter spoken of the economy of hav- 

 ing hogs to follow the cattle in winter. I find that every feeder 

 who has had experience in this plan testifies to its profit, and I 

 can recommend the plan to farmers with great confidence. Feed 

 your cattle liberally with corn, and provide two hogs to follow 

 each one, and your cattle will come through the winter in good 



