298 \ PRODUCTIVE FARMING 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

 SWINE PRODUCTION. 



Swine Raising. Before deciding to be a swine specialist 

 one should do several things: (1) Make a study of the dif- 

 ferent breeds. (2) Study the best methods of care, manage- 

 ment, and marketing. (3) Gain some experience in growing 

 swine by beginning with a few. 



Hogs are most abundant in the Corn Belt of America 

 because they produce a home " market" for the corn grown 

 on the farms. They may be produced with as great profit in 

 the East and South, particularly where markets and pastures 

 are good. Plenty of pasturage is essential to profitable swine 

 growing. 



The common practise, in some sections, of keeping pigs in 

 small pens or dry lots without green feed, is seldom profitable. 

 Mud and filth make them a menace to human health ; the pigs 

 are apt to become diseased; their growth is slow; and the feed 

 given them is often largely wasted. 



Where pigs are kept for the purpose of consuming sub- 

 stances that would otherwise go to waste, they may be kept in 

 hurdle pens easily moved to clean fresh grass. Light, movable 

 pens are sometimes used in keeping pigs on vacant lots in 

 villages. These are frequently moved to clean grass and no 

 objectionable odor is produced. 



The use of pigs to consume by-products or wastes, is quite 

 common in all sections. Undigested corn or other grain in 

 cattle feed lots; gleanings from stubble fields; skim milk, 

 whey and buttermilk; tankage and other slaughterhouse 

 wastes; weeds; small potatoes and other garden by-products; 

 kitchen refuse these are all turned into cash value when 

 consumed by growing pigs. When such by-products are used 



