THE PIG. 471 



settled. The old " storing " system, by which a pig is 

 simply kept alive during winter, that it may be ready to 

 grow the next summer, has not yet been wholly given up, 

 but may be found in full operation in many parts of our 

 country. It does seem as if every feeder should have dis- 

 covered the utter improvidence of this practice. If pigs 

 were like a wagon, a bin of grain, or a mow of hay, that 

 might be kept over winter without expense, there would be 

 some excuse for it ; but when we reflect that two-thirds of 

 a full ration is used merely as the food of support, without 

 adding anything to the weight or value of the pig, this 

 practice of keeping pigs through the winter, or at any 

 other time, without constant growth, seems absolutely 

 indefensible. 



As we hare shown in previous chapters, time is a most im- 

 portant factor in the problem of pig-feeding. Every week 

 that a pig is kept without growth, the feed is worse than 

 thrown away, because it takes time to overcome the un- 

 thrifty habit, and all the food is lost till growth begins 

 again. It is thus evident that the skillful feeder must strive 

 after continued and unremitting growth. 



The winter season should be no exception to this steady 

 growth, although it will require more food to put on a 

 pound gain in winter than in summer, unless the tempera- 

 ture in the pig-pen is raised to near summer warmth. All 

 animals must keep up their heat by the consumption of 

 food, and it makes a great difference whether the surround- 

 ing air is at zero or sixty degrees above. It would seem, 

 therefore, that while thrift is as necessary in winter as sum- 

 mer, the feeder way control the temperature and save a large 

 percentage of the food in winter growth. 



We have just discussed the importance of grass as a 

 part of the ration of the pig. It might reasonably be sup- 

 posed that the pig would require some fibrous food in win- 

 ter as well as in summer ; and if green clover is good in 



