17 



great or less extent, must not for once be overlooked. Without good 

 feeding it is impossible to secure the full benefit of well bred stock. 

 For this reason the swine claimed to have originated out of " swill 

 pail" by " corn bin" are usually fat, showing the result of good feed- 

 ing, if not good breeding. If sows are served in December the}' will 

 farrow in April, — the period of gestation is usually sixteen weeks 

 and three da^'s. When the pigs are two or three weeks old they 

 should be fed in an inclosure separate from the sow, with milk in a 

 small trough. The}' learn quickly, an^d although they take but little 

 at first, as they grow they consume more and more, so that by the 

 time they are ready to be taken from the sow, there will be no check 

 to their growth, besides being if properly fed much larger and su|)erior 

 to pigs that only suckle the sow. The drain on the sow will be much 

 less ; therefore, she will be in better condition for immediate breeding 

 again. We never found anything quite equal to milk to make pigs 

 grow. Next to this are oats, ground fine, and made into a gruel or 

 porridge and thoroughly cooked. 



Six or eight times a day is not too often to feed young pigs. Give 

 them all that they will readily eat up clean, and no more. Do not 

 overfeed ; " little and often " is the golden rule. When the pigs are 

 three months old, three times a day will answer. Be regular in feed- 

 ing ; feed just strong enough to keep the stock in a good growing 

 condition, but not to fatten. We are satisfied that it pays to cook or 

 scald the meal fed to growing pigs, or what are commonl}' called 

 shoats. Tliis is easily done by placing the feed, sa}' one-half meal and 

 tb.e other half coarse bran, in an empty barrel that is sufficientl}- tight 

 to hold water. Pour upon the feed suflScient boiling water to thoroughly 

 scald it. This is to be covered up and allowed to stand until next 

 day's feeding, or in other words, the food is prepared before it is 

 wanted in order to give the meal time to cook and swell. As needed, 

 it can be made thin and slo[)p3-, either with milk or slops fi'om the 

 kitchen, or water. Up to the time of fattening we prefer to scald the 

 feed, but for fattening we have serious doubts as to there being any 

 thing gained by tliis practice. It is true the feed goes farther, from 

 the fact that they cannot eat so much on account of its bulk. But it 

 takes longer, and where the object is to induce the animal to eat all he 



