BREEDING AND REARING PIGS. 201 



time of pigging; but, as already explained, straw which 

 has been in the pen for a week or so is softer and better 

 than fresh straw. We would place straw in the sleeping 

 apartment to the deptli of afoot, and then remove the wet 

 or soiled portions daily until, by the time the sow pigged, 

 there would not be more than is needed to keep the 

 mother and little ones warm. Two or three inches of 

 soft straw on the bottom of the pen, under the sow, will 

 be trod firm, and act as a non-conductor of heat, and will 

 not increase the danger of the sow lying on the pigs. The 

 danger arises from having too much loose straw in the 

 pen, and from having the sides of the bed too high and 

 firm. 



It often happens that the pen in which the sow is placed 

 is ill-adapted for the purpose. In this case, some tem- 

 porary expedient for keeping out the cold winds must be 

 resorted to. If nothing better can be done, every hole 

 and crevice can at least be stopped with straw. The 

 principal danger is during the first few hours after the 

 pigs are born. If they can be kept warm and safe for 

 two or three days, there is little danger of losing them. 

 But for health and thrift, it is very desirable that they 

 never be exposed to cold storms ; and what is of even 

 still greater importance, the pen must always be dry. 



We would again endeavor to impress on our readers 

 the importance of attending to these matters in advance. 

 Few things are more vexatious than to lose a nice litter 

 of pigs for want of half an hour's time in making the 

 pen dry, warm, and comfortable. If we lose a calf, we 

 have still the milk of the cow, but if we lose a litter of 

 pigs, there is no compensation. It is a dead loss of what 

 the pigs would have been worth when a month old. 



We have said that for fall pigs, to be kept fourteen or 



fifteen months before killing, there are no better pigs 



than those obtained from a Chester White sow, put to a 



thorough-bred Essex, Berkshire, or Small Yorkshire (Suf- 



9* 



