CHAPTER IX. 



SWILL TUB AND CORN CRIB. 



A pig' does not eat merely to live. Tim's Martha. 



I will now discuss feeding, 

 which is the most important detail 

 of the business. Breed counts for 

 much and management for more, 

 but feeding really determines the 

 profits. 



The hog is an omnivorous ani- 

 mal, with an appetite for almost 

 everything, and with ability to turn all kinds of food to 

 account. Besides that, the hog can manage to live 

 under conditions of the most abject misery, unclean- 

 ness and neglect. For centuries he has been regarded 

 and treated as a sort of scavenger, and as an animal 

 occupying the lowest position in the agricultural 

 economy. 



Now, however, things are changing for the better, 

 and this despised farm laborer is likely to be better 

 bred, better fed and better managed. It is now known 

 that money can be saved by selecting the food set 

 before the pigs, rather than by the old plan of filling 

 them with an ill-assorted compound of stuff passing 

 by the name of swill. 



