988 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



To make the cheapest pork from these hogs they should be 

 fattened in lute summer or early fall. If the farmer provides 

 rye or blue-grass pasture or better both he can lengthen the 

 grazing season so that his hogs will be in good condition for 

 feeding by the middle of July or first of August. The clover- 

 field is the best place to feed them, provided they can have a 

 good supply of pure water and shade. The latter can be cheaply 

 provided by temporary sheds covered with brush, straw, or clover. 

 The advantages of feeding in the clover-field will be that the 

 hogs will still eat enough clover to keep their digestive organs 

 in good condition, so that the change of diet will not be too 

 sudden or radical. The clover-field will give a clean place for 

 feeding, and by choosing a new spot every day or two you will 

 not only avoid mud and dust, but will be able to enrich the field 

 more evenly. The most convenient crib from which to feed hogs 

 in the field is an old wagon, a thing which can always be bought 

 cheaply at & farm auction. A load of corn can be placed in the 

 old wagon and fed out on all sides of it, and then the wagon 

 moved to a new spot. I recommend that corn be fed moderately 

 for a few days, but would get the hogs on full feed as soon as 

 prudent. 



As soon as new corn is past roasting-ear stage begin feeding 

 some of it cut up, but keep up feeding with old corn. It will 

 pay the farmer who expects to feed at this season of the year 

 to grow enough of some early variety of corn to supply his hogs 

 for two or three weeks ; and although I have not fully tested 

 the matter, I think one of the large varieties of sweet corn would 

 be more profitable than field corn for this purpose. Either 

 Stowell, Evergreen, or Mammoth is earlier than field corn, and 

 will bear considerably closer planting, and yields two ears on 

 most of the stalks. If feeding begins earlier, and the hogs are 

 to be sold before the new crop of corn is ready for feeding, it 

 will pay to feed some slop, as heavy corn feeding in hot weather 

 will not produce as good results as a more varied diet. The 

 hogs will eat and gain more and keep in better condition if some 

 bran is fed in the slop. Hogs of suitable age and a good breed 

 that were in good flesh when turned to pasture in the spring 



