BREEDS OF SWINE 497 



Charcoal ............................ bushels . . 



Common salt ........................ pounds . . 4 



Hardwood ashes ...................... pounds. . 10 



Slaked lime ......................... pounds. . 4 



(U. S. Cir. 30.) 



QUARTERS AND CARE. 



Cost of Housing Pigs. What is the necessary cost of housing 

 a litter? Where lumber is $25 to $35 a thousand, good single- 

 walled houses need not cost over $10 to $20 a pen, and double-walled 

 $20 to $30 a pen. It is doubtful economy, under most conditions, 

 to make them cost over $30 a pen, and very good sheds are some- 

 times made for less then $10 a pen. The owner of a new hog house 

 once showed it to the writer with considerable pride. It contained 

 18 pens besides the feed bins, and cost, according to the contractor, 

 approximately $4,000, or $222 a pen. The interest on this invest- 

 ment at 5 per cent amounts to $11.10 for every sow pen, and the 

 annual cost of each pen, including interest, depreciation, repairs, 

 and insurance, would be about $27, which, as has been shown, is 

 amply sufficient to pay for a good pen outright; or, at average 

 Omaha prices ($5.50 per hundredweight), it would take two 250- 

 pound hogs every year to pay for the maintenance of a single sow 

 pen. It is hard to see how such a building can ever pay for itself. 

 By careful management it is not difficult to make each pen ac- 

 commodate three litters a year. Taking $25 as the cost per pen 

 (which is sufficient to make a good double-walled building), we 

 have the following: 



Interest on investment ($25), at 5 per cent ..... $1.25 



Insurance, at 50 cents per $1,000 .............. 0125 



Repairs, i l /2 per cent ........................ 375 



Depreciation, 5 per cent .................... 1.25 



Total ................................ $2.8875 



Using each pen for three litters a year, the cost of housing one 

 litter would be slightly less than $1. This is about what one pig has 

 cost when farrowed. Or, with the high prices that have prevailed 

 for several years, one pig at weaning time would pay for the use of 

 one good pen a whole year, which would accommodate three litters, 

 averaging seven pigs or more each. Of course, more shed room is re- 

 quired for the older hogs, but this may be of much cheaper construc- 

 tion. If only one litter a year is raised, no other shed would be 

 needed. Many farmers have provided usable structures for less than 

 half the above figures. (F. B. 438.) 



Housing in Mild Climates. In the South and in much of the 

 country west of the main chain of the Rocky Mountains the win- 

 ters are sufficiently mild to obviate the necessity of constructing 

 buildings of much warmth. Not only are the winters mild, but they 

 are comparatively short, and green feed is available much longer 

 than in other parts of the country. In such localities a shed will 

 often suffice, but it should be well constructed, in order to provide 

 protection from storms and damp, chilly weather. The location 



