PIGGERIES AND PIG PENS. 145 



pen is, convenience of feeding. Where there is much milk 

 or whey, the pen should be located with reference to con- 

 veying it to pigs with the least labor. The only objection 

 to having a pig pen near the house is, the smell ; but the 

 labor required to carry the slops of the house, etc., through 

 a dirty barn-yard, would provide muck and other absorb- 

 ent materials for rendering the pig pens free from all un- 

 pleasant odor, and furnish a large quantity of valuable 

 manure into the bargain. 



Pigs should have access to fresh water at all times, and 

 the piggeries should be near a pump. If there is no well, a 

 large cistern should be provided, and the rain-water from 

 the buildings conveyed into it; and, in any case, the 

 buildings must be furnished with gutters, to prevent the 

 water running on to the manure, and washing out its 

 soluble and most valuable plant-food. 



Where stone is abundant, this is the cheapest and best 

 material for the lower story of the pig pens. The floors 

 may be laid with flags, and the joints grouted with water- 

 lime and gravel, or the whole may be grouted with lime 

 and gravel, taking care to provide good drainage. We 

 should add, however, that a farmer of much experience, 

 who built an expensive piggery, and nagged and grouted 

 the bottom of the pens, says that his pigs did not thrive 

 in them, and he subsequently put in plank floors. He 

 thought the grouted floor was cold and damp. He is 

 satisfied, at any rate, that pigs do much better on plank, 

 than on stone, or grouted floors. 



Some of our own pig pens have no other floor than 

 beaten earth ; and we are inclined to think that there is 

 no material superior to it, and certainly none so cheap. 

 The great point is, to have the ground high enough, so 

 that the pens shall be always dry. If not so high that 

 the liquid will not run rapidly away, draw on several 

 loads of clay, and pound it down hard with a beater. 

 Keep the pen well littered, and always clean ; let the pigs 

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