THE PIG. 481 



culation of air and keep it pure. The feeding floor is wide 

 enough to drive a wagon through, and loads of dry earth 

 may be brought in and thrown over the open floor, which 

 mixes with the manure and deodorizes it. This open 

 floor is not an experiment, but was in use by the late 

 J. J. Mechi, in England, for 30 years ; and the author 

 has used it for single pens and found it to work well. No 

 bedding is required, and the pigs keep much cleaner than 

 is usual on tight floors where bedding is used. 



It is intended to have the outside tightly closed below the 

 floor, so as to prevent as much as possible the circulation of 

 air under the slats. With a long-handled shovel the manure 

 is easily loaded and requires no other labor than hauling 

 to the field. 



Since writing this description of the self -cleaning pen, 

 the author has constructed one with iron slats or bars, one 

 inch wide and iVinch thick placed f-inch apart. This grat- 

 ing may be four or five feet wide ; ours is four feet, and the 

 wooden floor for bedding is also four feet, with a grade 2 

 inches toward the grating, so that all liquid will run toward 

 the grating. This proves to be a completely self-cleaning 

 pen. This wrought-iron grating, with bars so thin, is not 

 liable to clog, as is the wooden slats, from being so deep up 

 or down. This floor and grate is elevated 18 inches, and 

 the bottom is concreted so as to save all the liquid and solid 

 dropping. A door one foot wide is let down and the ma- 

 nure is easily taken out with a long-handled shovel from 

 the outside. It will only require cleaning once in three 

 months. It is a pleasure, clean hogs in a clean pen. 



COOKING HOG FOOD. 



When cooking is to be done for so large a number, 

 economy requires an apparatus in proportion. An eight- 

 horse boiler and engine should be placed in an extension of 

 the swine house, which can shell and grind the corn, or bet- 

 21 



