198 1HE HOO. 



imperfectly built sheds ; this was an error, and a fruitful source of 

 disease, and of unthrifty animals. 



In large establishments where numerous pigs are kept, there should 

 be divisions appropriated to all the different kinds of pigs ; the males, 

 the breeding sows, the newly weaned, and the fattening pigs should 

 all be kept separate ; and it were as well that in the divisions appro- 

 priated to the second and last of these four classes, there should be 

 a distinct apartment for each animal, all opening into a yard or 

 enclosure of limited extent. As pigs require warmth, these build- 

 ings should face the south, and be kept weather-tight and well 

 drained. Good ventilation is also important, for it is needless to 

 expect animals to make good flesh and retain their health unless they 

 have a sufficiency of pure air. The blood requires it to give it 

 vitality and free it from impurities, as much as the stomach requires 

 wholesome and strengthening food, and when it has it not, becomes 

 vitiated, and impairs all the animal functions. 



"The blood, the fountain whence the spirits flow, 

 The generous stream that waters every part, 

 And motion, vigor, and warm life conveys 

 To every moving, breathing particle," 



becomes contaminated by those aerial poisons given out bv the 

 decaying vegetable matter, rotten or damp litter, accumulations of 

 dung, and animal exhalations engendered by ill-ventilated styes. 

 These noxious gases are inhaled by the breath, and absorbed by the 

 skin, until they enter the circulation, and impair its vivifying fluid. 

 It is by the action of the atmospheric air that venous blood is con- 

 verted into arterial, freed from all its impurities, and rendered fit to 

 sustain all the vital functions ; hence it must be at once evident that 

 if this important agent is in the first place contaminated, its action 

 must be impaired and its effects empoisoned. Besides, bad smells 

 and exhalations injure the flavor of the meat. 



Damp and cold floors should also be guarded against, as they tend 

 to induce cramp and diarrhoea ; and the roof so contrived as to carry 

 off the wet from the pigs. 



The walls of a well-constructed sty should be of solid masonry ; 

 the roof sloping, and furnished with spouts to carry off* the rain ; 

 the floors either slightly inclined towards a gutter made to carry off* 

 the rain, or else raised from the ground on beams or joists, and per- 

 forated so that alt urine and moisture shall drain off. Bricks and 

 tiles are much used for the flooring of styes, but are objectionable, 

 because, however well covered with litter, they still strike cold ; 

 wood is far superior in this respect ; as well as because it admits of 

 those clefts or perforations being made which we have just recom- 

 mended, and which not only serve to drain off all moisture, but 

 drait fresh air as well. The value of the litter and dung aa 



