CHAPTER ONE. 



THE IDEAL HOG FARM. 



This is a hard subject to write on. The writer has never 

 yet seen a hog" farm that was ideal in every respect. While 

 many of them are almost ideal usually they lack some one 

 or two requirements. My idea for an ideal hog farm would 

 first be one that would have a rich soil, full of fertility to 

 grow grasses and other forage, as well as the grains need- 

 ed for the best feeds for the proper development of the 

 animals. After a good rich soil the next thing would be 

 a slightly rolling well drained farm. If it was underlaid 

 three or four feet down with gravel, as much of our 

 soil in northern Illinois is, it would not require tiling to 

 carry off surplus water. I have often noticed that a farm 

 that lies quite level and of a rich black" soil gets 

 very muddy after rains and during the coming out of the 

 frost in the spring of the year. This kind of soil is not 

 best for ideal hog raising. Besides being extremely 

 muddy at times, this class of soil does not come as near 

 being ideal as does a dark sandy loam well drained with 

 under ground drainage sub-soil. This class of soil is also 

 better even during dry weather for the feet of the pigs. 

 They are rather more inclined to keep in shape and wear 

 down a little all the time instead of growing long and turn- 

 ing up at the toes as do many pigs kept on a soft mucky 

 black soil. 



If one wishes a central hog house for general use, 

 rather than a feed house and half acre lots in which 

 individual houses are placed, he should place his central 

 house where pastures could be easily reached from either 

 side, and the kind of a house he should use is one 

 of the modem swine houses such as described on page 

 17, and should be situated so that a good pasture of 

 well set grass or mixture of grasses could be reached from 



