BREEDIXO.] 



AXD TIli:ii; VARIOUS liliEKDS. 



[UKAKIKQ. 



commodity is both scarce and bigl>-priced, and 

 when a payiii"; profit may be obtained upon 

 it. This is the only phui to realiao some 

 benefit by a lato litter. The time which 

 the sow carries her youiii:; is about ll;i days, 

 or sixteen weeks. This is our observation ; 

 but a French gentleman, of the name of 

 M. Tessier, afTirnis, that from his having care- 

 fully observed the period of gestation in twentv- 

 five sows, he concluded that it varied from 109 

 to 1-J:3 days. Be this as it may, however, the 

 young produced average from eight to thir- 

 teen, and sometimes even more at a litter. "We 

 have beard of one sow producing, in thirteen 

 litters, no fewer than 301 pigs ; and of others 

 exhibiting an extraordinary degree of fecundity; 

 but it is questionable if this is desirable, as the 

 pigs are generally much smaller than those that 

 form tlic aggregate of litters less abundant. 

 "When giving suck, the sow should be well fed, 

 as she has then a craving appetite for both 

 meat and drink ; and which, if properly satis- 

 fied, will keep both her and her pigs in good 

 condition. This is an important point ; for, if 

 the mother is allowed to become lean, it will 

 require double the quantity of food to en- 

 able her to get into condition again ; and the 

 young ones, if suffered to degenerate, will not 

 only require extra feeding and time before they 

 can be brought to market, but will never make 

 such good swine as they would have done had 

 tliey always been kept up to a proper standard. 

 " To guard against such evils," says Mr. Hen- 

 derson, in his Practical Grazier, " let the sow 

 and her progeny be fed three times a-day with 

 milk and wheat-bran, or something similar. 

 Water, a little warm, may be substituted for 

 milk, when it is scarce or too valuable. The 

 mixture, of whatever kind, ought never to be 

 thick, but should be more of the nature of a 

 drink than anything else. After the pigs are 

 about ten days old, if the weather is mild, they 

 ought to be allowed to stretch their legs a 

 little, once a day, in an open court attached to 

 their house ; during which period the sow may | 

 be turned out from them, which will contribute 



very materially to the supply of milk ; but care 

 must be taken to avoid the sow's remaining out 

 from them all niglit. Feeding as above will be 

 found very beneficial almost in every case ; but 

 more especially when a sow brings forth more 

 than she is able to support, which is not un- 

 6g 



frequently the case. It is likewise of great 

 importance to accustom pigs to food when 



sucking, as such will prevent their taking tho 

 • weaning brasli.' AVI.en tho pigs are about a 

 month old, such as ar(< not intended for breed- 

 ing should be castrated or spayed." 



As some sows are apt to lie upon, and 

 thereby destroy their young, it is better to 

 keep such from getting too fat, and to havo 

 tho straw of her bed short, and not too much 

 in quantity. It has been suggested by some, 

 to put an inclining or projecting rail to tho 

 lower part of tho interior wall of the sty, that 

 the pigs might run through between the rails, 

 and make their escape if the mother attempted 

 to lie upon them; but whether this plan 

 would be successful we cannot say, as wo 

 havo never seen it tried, although we believe 

 such has been the case. Before weaning the 

 pigs they should be gradually fed; and should 

 they and their dam have been kept warm and 

 dry, and well supplied with drinks moderately 

 warm, mixed with a little meal or wheat-bran, 

 the young ones may in general be weaned 

 when they are six weeks old. Should they, 

 however, have been neglected, they will re- 

 quire to be left with their mother two weeks 

 longer, and even then will not be in such good 

 condition as they otherwise would have been, 

 had they received a sufficiency of food for six 

 weeks. If the pigs are intended for sale, this 

 is the time that they should be driven to 

 market, as they have then a better appearance 

 than they would have for many weeks after 

 j being weaned. After they have been taken 

 from the sow, it is necessary that she should 

 be well fed for ten days with boiled potatoes, 

 meal, oats, &c., which, in a short time, will 

 stimulate coition, and tho proper season for 

 bringing forth her young will not be lost. 

 After weaning, the pigs must be regularly fed 

 three times a day, with similar food to that 

 recommended to them while sucking, and in a 

 few weeks they will begin to eat raw potatoes 

 or grain. The author of The Pig says, that 

 young pigs should be gradually fed* before 

 they are perfectly weaned; and recommends 

 milk for their first food ; which, he says, " may 

 be succeeded by ordinary dairy wash, thickened 

 with oat or barley meal, or fine pollard ; and 

 this is better scalded ; or, better still, boiled. 

 To tho sow some dry food should be given 



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