986 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



bulk, enough to fill their stomachs, of the different kinds, it shall 

 contain nearly equal amounts of nutriment. Irregular feeding, 

 or sudden changes of feed, are almost certain to bring on diar- 

 rhoea in pigs, resulting, if not in the loss of pigs, at least in 

 loss of weeks of growth. 



" For their own good and as a relief to their mother let the 

 pigs be taught as soon as possible to get a part of their living 

 independent of the mother. They will learn at a very early age 

 to drink milk if furnished in shallow troughs. As soon as they 

 take this readily, a little scalded shorts, oat-meal, or even corn- 

 meal, may be added, and the quantity gradually increased until 

 you have a thick slop. As soon as well accustomed to it, give 

 them all they will eat, and in addition let them have whole 

 corn and oats. They appear to take delight in cracking and 

 eating the grains. The small, unsalable potatoes, if not used up 

 in the fall, may now be utilized to good advantage by boiling 

 and mixing with the slops and fed to either the sows or pigs. 

 Furnish good, clean, dry, warm quarters, and if well-bred pigs, 

 they will grow rapidly. 



" The three requisites of good management from this time 

 till ready to begin fattening, are plenty of good feed (a large 

 portion of which is to be grass), shade, and water. They are 

 to be kept growing without getting them too fat. There is little 

 danger, however, that they will become too fat. Too many 

 mistake good or high condition for fatness, especially in the 

 well-bred hogs." 



The following experiments show the gain made from feeding 

 milk alone to pigs. " On May 1st I took four Yorkshire pigs, 

 weighing one hundred and twenty pounds, of an average weight 

 each of thirty pounds, being just two months old. I fed them 

 on clear skim-milk, with no grain or refuse food whatever, till 

 June 1st. The milk was soured, and fed three times a day. 

 They consumed seven hundred and five quarts of milk, and 

 gained ninety pounds, or twenty-two and a half pounds each. 

 Reckoning the gain in weight as worth eight cents a pound, gives 

 us an increase of $7.20, or about one cent a quart for the milk 

 consumed, making no allowance for the manure. 



