SWINE PRODUCTION 305 



Plenty of charcoal, soft coal dust, and wood ashes; small amounts of 

 common salt, saltpeter, sulfur, and air slaked lime. Secure as many of 

 these as possible, mix them together and keep them under shelter where 

 the pigs have constant access to them. 



The bones and other tissues of the body require much 

 mineral matter for their development. The owner should not 

 fail in providing these cheap materials for the pig's growth. 

 Pastures are not so badly rooted by pigs supplied with 

 minerals. 



Four Feeding Periods. The life of a spring pig may be 

 conveniently considered as divided into four feeding periods 

 of six or eight weeks each: 



(1) The milk period, during which time a large part of his growth is 

 from his mother's milk, but some sloppy feed may be added. (2) the 

 wet mash period, when the feed is mostly given in the wet form and 

 plenty of skim milk is supplied to him. The ground feeds, such as 

 middlings, gluten, and other feeds rich in protein are used in the wet 

 mash, (see feed table in Appendix), and some sliced roots and clover 

 pasture are provided. (3) The pasture period, when the clovers and 

 grasses produce the greatest growth. A little wet mash is fed at the first 

 part of this period and a little dry grain toward the last. (4) The corn 

 period, or fattening stage. It is well to use some succulent feed in addi- 

 tion to the corn , but it is not best to give a wide range on pasture at this time . 



Fattening, If this four-period plan of feeding is followed 

 for early spring pigs they can be sold at the best price without 

 carrying them over winter. During this fattening period, 

 when it occurs in the fall, the swine may be allowed to "hog 

 off" a corn crop. This saves labor of gathering the crop and 

 of feeding the hogs. 



Self- feeding hoppers are sometimes used by owners of 

 swine, particularly in regions outside the corn belt. The 

 swine may be allowed to balance their own rations by having 

 different kinds of feed in different bins of the hoppers. 



The cost of producing a pound of live weight is much less 

 for growing pigs than for those which have reached maturity. 

 For this reason the farmer finds it more profitable to sell his 

 market pigs before they are a year old. Those to be sold as 



fat hogs should not be fed through two winters. In most 

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