326 THE FAT OF THE LAND 
not caring for young litters in the brood-house. 
Comfortable shelters and a cemented basin twelve 
feet by twelve, and one foot deep, had been built 
in each lot. The water-pipe that ran through 
the chicken lot (No. 4) connected with these 
basins, as did also a drain-pipe to the drain in 
the north lane, so that it was easy to turn on 
fresh water and to draw off that which was soiled. 
Through this device my brood sows had access 
to a water bath eight inches deep, whenever 
they were in the fields. My hogs, young or old, 
have never been permitted to wallow in mud. 
We have no mud-holes at Four Oaks to grow 
stale and breed disease. The breeding hogs have 
exercise lots and baths, but the young growing 
and fattening stock have neither. They are kept 
in runs twenty feet by one hundred, in bunches 
of from twenty to forty, according to age, from 
the time they are weaned until they leave the 
place for good. This plan, which I did not in- 
tend to change, opened a question in my mind 
that gave me pause. It was this: Can I hope, 
even with the utmost care, to keep the house for 
growing and fattening swine free from disease if 
I keep it constantly full of swine ? 
The more I thought about it the less probable 
it appeared. The pig-house had cost me $4820. 
Another would cost as much, if not more, and I 
did not like to go to the expense unless it were 
necessary. I worked over this problem for sev- 
eral days, and finally came to the conclusion that 
