193 HARRIS ON THE PIG. 



the morning, and the last at niglit. If they have all they 

 can eat, they will not pine for the mother. Nothing is so 

 good for them as milk. A little flax-seed tea, oat-meal 

 gruel, or corn-meal gruel, mixed with the milk, or given 

 separately, will be good, and acceptable. As the weather, 

 by this time, is getting cold, it will be well to give warm 

 food. But guard against giving it too hot. It should not 

 be warmer than new milk. 



There is, perhaps, nothing better for the pigs than corn 

 pudding and milk. Put two quarts of corn-meal into a 

 pail, and pour on two or three quarts of boiling water, 

 and stir it until all the meal is wet, then fill up the pail 

 with milk. But be very careful that the scalded meal is 

 all mixed with the milk. It often happens that there will 

 be lumps of meal hot enough to scald, although the milk 

 surrounding it is only warm. Such lumps should be 

 broken up and mixed with the milk before feeding to the 

 little pigs. 



We need hardly add that all pigs should be allowed a 

 constant supply of fresh water. There are few things of 

 more importance in the management of pigs. 



Let the pen be warm, clean, and well ventilated, but 

 with no cracks for the wind to blow through on to the 

 pigs. And, above all, let the pen and bedding be dry. 

 There should always be litter enough for the pigs to bury 

 themselves in. Warmth, to a certain extent, is equiva- 

 lent to food, and, what is of more importance than the 

 saving of the food, it saves digestion. Let the pigs have 

 all the exercise they wish, and then do not be afraid that 

 warm, dry, clean, and comfortable quarters, with abund- 

 ance of wholesome food, will make them tender. We are 

 aware that this is a common idea, but it is an erroneous 

 one. A cold wind or storm, that will send a half-starved 

 and neglected pig squealing around the barn-yard, with 

 hair on end, head down, and back up, will have no effect 

 on pigs treated as we have recommended. And there is 



