196 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



to get her in pig. So much, then, for the use and character 

 of the sire. 



The Food of the Sire. 

 With the Western man corn is cheap and corn is handy. 

 There is no place so handy on a Western farm as the corn 

 crib, and the Western man feeds life and vitality right out of 

 the animal by feeding him corn. The sire should have mostly 

 nitrogenous food, with an allowance of fattening food. The 

 right proportion of food is another important point. I do 

 not believe that any young farmer or any old farmer should 

 be without a work like "Stewart's Feeding Animals," so 

 that he may learn the difference between the feeding value 

 of one article of food and another. There is nothing equal 

 to milk to give the animal muscular strength and growth. 



The Dam. 

 While it is said that the sire is " half the herd," I have 

 always believed that the dam is the biggest part and the 

 most essential part, and she should have the most tender 

 care. Men have smiled at me in institutes when I have 

 talked about ' ' tender care of a hog ; " but let us not forget 

 that the animal is a mother at this time, and in that con- 

 dition she should receive the most humane treatment. It 

 will add to our success. We are not breeding pigs for the 

 sake of doing it, but we are breeding pigs for the purpose 

 of having them to fatten, and it is the number of good pigs 

 that we aim at. Through the good treatment of the dam we 

 achieve success. The man who depends upon good luck in 

 breeding will often fail. I have heard men say, " I had 

 very good luck ; I raised so many pigs this year." It was 

 all good luck with him. The next year he says, " I had very 

 bad luck ; I did not raise any." I have made an average 

 upon my farm for the last seven years — as the records upon 

 my books will show — of seven, seven and a half and eight 

 pigs to each sow, and I keep twenty sows. I did not 

 depend upon good luck, but upon good management. As a 

 rule, the sows, where there are many hogs kept upon the 

 farm, are turned with the herd. The young sow is fed with 

 the fattening hogs for a certain length of time. I do not 

 approve of such a course. The young sow designed for 



