80 THE farmer's guide. 



MANAGEMENT OF PIGS. 



Pigs will soon learn to eat green herbs, and should have a 

 few oats daily, with a good supply of milk. Should they be 

 attacked with scours, hew milk boiled, and thickened with 

 flour, will soon relieve them. When they are ten weeks old 

 they can be weaned, keeping them out of the sight and hearing 

 of the sow. It is well not to take all of the pigs from the 

 mother on the same day. The sow should be fed on dry food 

 for one week, thereby lessening the amount of milk. When 

 it IS desirable to fatten pigs fast, give them boiled rice. 



GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF SWINE. 



It only requires good management to make the raising of 

 swine one of the most profitable occupatioaas of the farmer. In 

 the summer season swine will greatly improve by being al- 

 lowed to run in a clover-field or pasture, also having the whey 

 of the dairy and wash of the house, with salt every other day. 

 When swine are not permitted to range at large, allow them 

 occasionally to have access to a trough containing salt, tar, 

 sulphur, wood-ashes, and a small quantity of Epsom salts and 

 charcoal. 



PENS. 



It is an impression with many that swine thrive well when 

 kept in filthy or wet and muddy pens ; this has been proved to be 

 a great mistake. They will thrive much the best in a perfectly 

 dsy, clean, and comfortable shelter. The pen ought to be 

 built in a warm location, protected from piercing winds, with 

 free access to the open air. It should be divided into three 

 apartments, one for eating, one for sleeping, and one for evacu- 

 ation. The first two should be on the highest ground. The 

 troughs should be fastened to the floor or ground, and not 

 more than five inches deep, that no great pressure be made on 

 the throat while drinking. 



FATTENING. 



After bringing them from the pasture, and in preparing them 

 rapidly for the market, they will require a gentle purgative, 

 unless green cornstalks or other green food be given them, as 

 dry grain is liable to produce costiveness. To save trou- 

 ble, corn, potatoes, &;c., are frequently given to swine in their 

 raw state. Where this is done, at least one third of the nour- 

 ishment is lost. Grain should always be ground and cooked, or 

 soaked until fermentation is produced, and potatoes and other 

 roots boiled and salted. Experience has proved that grain and 

 roots given alternately, greatly conduce to the thriving of the 

 animals. They should be fed regularly three times a day, and 

 be allowed fresh earth, rotten wood, or a small quantity of 



