216 FEEDING AND MANAGEMENT 



Feeding. It requires good judgment to keep a boar in the 

 best possible condition. (Fig. 49.) Extremes are to be avoided. 

 The over-fat boar does not make a satisfactory sire, as a rule, 

 and a half-starved boar cannot transmit vigor and constitution 

 to his progeny to the 'same degree that he would if properly 

 managed. To get the best results, the boar should be in fair 

 flesh. A reasonable amount of fat on his bones will do him 

 no harm if he gets sufficient exercise. 



An exclusive meal ration will not give good results, 

 especially if the ration is made up of corn. It is true that 

 corn can be fed to a boar without injuring him, but it must be 

 fed in the right way. Corn is fattening, but its exclusive use 

 is debilitating, and the feeder must combine something with 

 it to get good results. Equal parts ground corn, ground oats, 

 and wheat middlings make a good meal ration. Equal parts 

 ground oats and middlings make a first-class meal ration when 

 corn is not used. It gives sufficient bulk, and is nutritious 

 without being heating or too fattening. Ground oate, middlings, 

 or bran may be used singly to dilute corn; in fact, a very 

 great variety of grains may be fed, so long as the feeder uses 

 judgment. 



Supplemental Feeds. But a boar needs something besides 

 grain and meal to be in his best condition. Skim-milk and 

 buttermilk are excellent, and will give good results with corn, 

 even if nothing else is used. In winter, roots of any kind are 

 much relished. They have a cooling, laxative effect, preventing 

 constipation and keeping the animal thrifty and vigorous. 



If roots are not available, alfalfa hay of fine quality or 

 even fine red clover hay may be used to give bulk to the 

 ration. Some feed the alfalfa hay dry in racks, and 

 others prefer to cut it and soak it with the meal ration, or 



