ROOTING 299 



in warm well ventilated and comfortable quarters, given 

 a dose of physic, and then small quantities of laxative 

 and easily digested feeds. 



Another cause of coughing is dust. During a dusty 

 season when a bunch of hogs go to pasture, the first ones 

 kick up considerable dust, part of which will be inhaled 

 by those in the rear. This is a more important factor 

 with pigs than with other animals because a pig lives 

 on or quite close to the surface of the earth. Moreover, 

 many hog houses instead of having clean places for the 

 hogs to lie and sleep, have only a dust floor, which might 

 answer very well to destroy lice on chickens, but is no 

 place for a hog to live, because a hog standing on short 

 legs and having his nostrils or snout close to the ground, 

 will inhale a great deal of the dust. These particles lodg- 

 ing in the bronchial tubes or the lungs will cause irritation 

 and induce the hog to cough, also furnish a lodging place 

 for disease germs of various kinds and may be the cause 

 of other troubles such as tuberculosis, hog cholera, pneu- 

 monia, etc. 



ROOTING. 



Rooting cannot be said to be a form of disease, still it 

 may be considered at this time. A hog in his natural 

 state gets a good share of his feed, especially the mineral 

 nutrients, from the soil by rooting for them. His snout 

 equips him well for this form of work. It is frequently 

 said that if a domesticated hog is properly fed he will not 

 root. This, however, is not necessarily true. While root- 

 ing may be prevented to a considerable extent by proper 

 feeding, this will not always prevent it entirely. The 

 appetite of a pig, especially for protein, is more or less 

 abnormal, and irregularity in feeding will set up the factor 

 of waste which will demand a large quantity of protein, 



