FEEDING OF SWINE. 203 



hogs, the large Yorkshire is considered as profitable, but it is a large 

 feeder, and I think on the whole if the Berkshire were kept by 

 farmers more extensively, both wholly, or for crossing on their present 

 mixed stock, that the value of their swine would be doubled. 



There is nothing special to be said in regard to the feeding of 

 hogs, excepting that when young they should not be overfed. 

 I feed a mixture of buttermilk and bran twice a day, and in the 

 winter time they are fed cooked roots and pea meal, which is one of 

 the best feeds that can be given. The sows are put into a pen a week 

 or ten days before their time for farrowing, and to prevent them from 

 eating their pigs, as they sometimes do, I give them a little salt pork, 

 which seems to have the effect t>f deterring them from doing so. 

 Perhaps if they had been given some salt previously they would not 

 need this. There is but little bedding left in the pen at that time, and 

 that fine and short, so that the young pigs may not be entangled in it; 

 and they are watched closely. The pigs are left as dropped, and are 

 then put into a box or basket, and as soon as the sow recovers they are 

 put back in the pen, and left with her; but she requires watching, as 

 they will often get in behind, between the sow and the wall of the 

 pen, and get crushed. To prevent this I nail a rail or round pole a 

 few inches from the wall, and a few inches high. The pigs are gen- 

 erally left with the sow untill six or eight weeks old, when they are 

 weaned and fed with a little new milk and mush, made of oat meal and 

 bran. I have several times put the boar to the sow the third day after 

 she has dropped her pigs. By this there is time saved, as we can get 

 three litters in a year, whereas if we neglected it at that time, the sow 

 probably would not be in farrow again for three months. It is my 

 opinion that boars should never be used longer than two years, as 

 they become vicious and dangerous. 



Q. Without taking into consideration the fancy prices at which these 

 Berkshires have sold, how would they compare in profit with sheep? 



A. I think they are not as profitable as sheep. The wool pays for 

 keeping the sheep, and six months in the year they are on pasture, and 

 require but very little care, while the hog has to be attended to twice 

 daily throughout this full term, and unless we have a special market 

 for hams and shoulders, and sides of bacon, it hardly pays to raise 

 hogs here. But the farmer can ill afford to be without them, as they 

 are used to root among the manure and turn it over, and generally 

 get their living upon what would otherwise be wasted. 



When pork is prepared for sale in the form of hams and bacon, it 

 must be home cured, because then we get the profit in this work^ 

 A hog should not be fed for twelve hours before slaughtering. When 

 it is scalded to remove the hair it is necessary to avoid over scalding, 



