THE POOR MAN'S PIG. 113 



and to move the building. The house itself may easily 

 be made in sections, to be taken apart at pleasure. 

 Three sides of the house should be tight and the other 

 side open, but so arranged as to be closed or partly 

 closed during cool or cold weather. The trough and 

 swill dump may be temporarily secured by stout stakes, 

 and everything made as satisfactory as though the quar- 

 ters were intended to be permanent. This is the way 

 to have clean, healthy pigs, and it will pay every time. 



A little bedding is good, even in mild weather, 

 for it is only in midsummer that our nights are really 

 warm, and a shivering pig is not a growing pig. The 

 animal must be comfortable as well as clean in order 

 to do its best. 



It costs but little to indulge in the luxury of two 

 swill barrels, and to keep one of them always empty 

 and szueet. In practice I never could get one barrel 

 emptied and scalded at regular intervals without wast- 

 ing food, but now it is a simple matter to keep things 

 reasonably clean. Besides, it is a comfort to always 

 know that there are no germs of any kind more than a 

 week old in the swill barrel. Disease germs cannot 

 withstand frequent changes. It is only in neglected 

 places that they flourish. Sunshine is hostile to all 

 disease germs. 



Shade, pure w r ater and green food are essentials 

 to the most rapid growth of penned pigs. Each of 

 these items counts for much, and yet each is often neg- 

 lected. Some people never give their pigs pure 

 water to drink, compelling them to rely wholly upon 

 the not too savory swill ; and the mistake of withhold- 

 ing green food is almost as common. The argument 



