No. 4.] SWINE BREEDING AND FEEDING. 197 



breeding purposes should be selected after weaning, when 

 she has taken on her best conformation. The average farmer 

 selects the young sows that he intends to keep for breeding 

 purposes when they are about four weeks old, when they 

 have their prettiest form, when they are filled out in 

 every way by the richest food they can ever receive, — the 

 dam's milk. But we should select the animal after it has 

 commenced feeding, so that we may see what artificial food 

 will do for it, and what kind of conformation and growth 

 such food will give it, and we can then judge better of the 

 animal that we are growing. The young sows should be 

 separated from the herd, and should be fed as I have said 

 the sire should be fed. They should have nitrogenous food. 

 It is my custom upon my farm (I do not know what you can 

 do in this line in your State) to feed clover, squash and 

 ruta-bagas, which cheapens the cost of my swine husbandry ; 

 and my young sows for breeding are turned to clover, 

 while the rest of the herd are constantly under the pressure 

 of high feeding. 



Here comes another point. A sow should not be bred 

 until she is eight months of age. She carries her young 

 one hundred and thirteen days, as a rule, before she 

 farrows. The great mistake is made on most farms that 

 one sow is bred to-day and another in three or four weeks ; 

 and when the farrowing season is over the farmer has pigs 

 that were born in March, in April, in May and in June. 

 The intelligent breeder and feeder will see to it that his 

 herd is bred as near together as possible. How shall he do 

 this? After you have once bred your herd closely together, 

 you will find that these animals will all come in heat at the 

 same time. Begin to breed them in the month of October. 

 Take a book and pencil and mark down the dates as they 

 are bred. In our climate we dare not have the pigs come 

 earlier than March or April ; at least, the general farmers 

 dare not ; those that have stables and suitable arrangements 

 may do so, but still there is great danger in breeding 

 March or February pigs, for the reason that they have no 

 exercise. They do not get out in the fresh air, and 

 generally one-half of them die with the dumps. Then let 

 us intelligently set down the time, and we will find that we 



