CONSTRUCTION OF PIGGERIES, 197 



"We may here notice a few other articles which do not come under 

 any precise head. One of these is hay-tea, or rather an infusion of 

 clover, sainfoin, or lucern hay, which is by many recommended as an 

 excellent vehicle for mixing with other food. It may be thickened 

 with potato-flour, steamed carrots, boiled cabbages, barley or oat- 

 meal, anc for store hogs, in particular, it is said to be excellent, not 

 only as keeping the animals in first-rate condition, but as saving 

 more expensive kinds of food which must otherwise be given. 



" Another article is salt. Salt is almost essential to health ; it 

 stimulates the appetite, it aids the operation of digestion, and all cat- 

 tle are partial to it. A little salt should, therefore, be scattered into 

 the food before it is given to the animal. 



" We must not here exclude earth or calcareous matters from our 

 consideration. With the roots which a hog ploughs up in the ground 

 and devours, a small quantity of earth is necessarily swallowed, the 

 calcareous particles of which act beneficially by correcting any acid- 

 ity in the stomach. Hogs put up to fatten, highly fed, and taking 

 little or no exercise, are very liable to acidity of the stomach, and loss 

 of appetite as a consequence. Many breeders, aware of this, give the 

 animals occasionally ashes or cinders, which they champ and swallow; 

 or turn them out now and then upon a patch of ground, over which 

 lime or chalk has been freely sprinkled, in which they root and pick 

 up morsels, which, with the lime and particles of earth, are swallowed. 

 It is not a bad plan to mix occasionally a little magnesia or chalk in 

 the wash or milk; this will very effectually correct acidity. Here 

 then, we have another reason why a run, from time to time, in the 

 field given to hogs is advisable ; with every root, every pig-nut that 

 they swallow, they take in a portion of earth." 



CHAPTEK XIII. i^.d 



On the Proper Construction of Piggeries Ventilation Description of Mr. Henderson'* Stye 

 Cooking Apparatus Curious Contrivance for Feeding Pigs Description of the Piggery at 

 Prince Albert's Home Farm Description of a Piggery at Lascoed Advantages of Cleanli- 

 ness -Pig-keeping in Mexico. 



THERE are few things more conducive to the thriving and well- 

 being of swine than airy, spacious, well-constructed styes, and, above 

 all, cleanliness. The old prejudices that any place was good 

 enough to keep a pig in, and that filth and pig-styes were synony- 

 mous terms are now. passed away, and the necessity of attention 

 to this branch of porcine economy generally recognized. 



Formerly swine were too often housed in damp, dirty, close, 



