202 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



ei^ht feet long, is quite long enough for the mother and 

 her litter. The trough is laid on the ground, so that the 

 pigs can eat with the dam readily. It is a great achieve- 

 ment for the feeder or breeder to get his pigs to eat with 

 the dam at an early age. I want my pigs to learn to eat 

 with their dam by the time they are three weeks old. In 

 t hat way I double the growth of the pigs, and avoid an 

 abrupt change of food at weaning time. I leave the pigs 

 with the sow for three months. I think this is a much 

 better plan than to wean them at four or five weeks of 

 age ; for in that case the pigs must have a separate stable, 

 and the abrupt change of food will check their growth. 

 They will gain very little for several weeks if weaned at 

 that age ; but, if left with the sow, — she being well fed, of 

 course, — they will continue to grow rapidly. When they 

 are three months old they will have learned to eat all sorts 

 of food, and many of them will have weaned themselves, 

 and the separation from the dam will cause no perceptible 

 check in their growth. I think this a very important point 

 in swine Growing. 



Now, while I am talking hog I wish to say that no man 

 should engage in swine husbandry or in any other hus- 

 bandry unless he has a liking for it, because a man rarely 

 makes a success in a business for which he has no taste. A 

 man must have a taste and liking for any kind of animal 

 that he wishes to introduce upon his farm, in order to 

 achieve success. 



Upon my farm we begin the spring work by sowing from 

 three to four acres of peas. I generally take a piece of fall 

 ploughing, drag it over first, so as to make it rough, before 

 I sow the peas. I use Canada peas, and sow them by hand. 

 Then I take a plough and plough them under five to six 

 inches deep upon my sandy land. Then I sow a half bushel 

 of oats to the acre, and drag the piece over once or twice. 

 By ploughing in the peas to a great depth, I find that in our 

 dry seasons they retain greater moisture and give me a 

 larger crop. I have raised as high as forty bushels to 

 the acre. In my corn field, after I am through dragging 

 and harrowing my corn, — I am in the habit of harrow- 

 ing my corn until it is eight or nine inches high, — 



