24 Forty Years* Experience of a Practical Hog Man. 



An acre or two of rape, if a good stand and on good soil, 

 "will produce a surprising amoTint of first class pasture. 



If it is desirable to sow a spring grain to be used before 

 rape could become the proper size for grazing, a mixture 

 of barley and oats and even field peas makes a desirable 

 mixture to sow. 



I believe a bog prefers green barley sown early in the 

 spring to any of the other varieties of spring sown grain. 

 Why this is I cannot explain, but if a patch of oats and an- 

 other of barley are sown early in the spring, side by side, 

 and pigs turned into the two lots when grain is a few inches 

 high, they will eat the barley all off and give little atten- 

 tion to the oats, probably for the reason that the barley is 

 more palatable. 



SHADE NATURAL OR ARTIFICIAL. 



The question of shade in the pastures or lots where pigs 

 are kept during the summer, is of great importance. The 

 pig being an animal that does not perspire of course can 

 not stand excessive heat and must have shade or suffer 

 the consequences. 



IWhere the hog pastures can be arranged in a wooded 

 lot, that is all that can be desired. Where such is not the 

 case artificial shade of some kind must be furnished. In 

 lots on open sunny land where there are no trees, very 

 satisfactory arrangement for shade can be had by setting 

 posts along the division fence every sixteen feet with corre- 

 sponding posts eight feet each side of the fence, about four 

 or five feet high along the fence with the outer ones about 

 two and a half feet high, thus forming a covered place six- 

 teen feet square with the roof slightly sloping to the East 

 and to the West, or even each of the four ways. The 

 cover should be of good lumber and the ends of the boards 

 projecting well over to prevent the sun shining under. 

 This place should have no floor and the ground after being 

 used will naturally become rooted up and often gets very 

 dusty; this condition can be overcome by one or two 

 liberal sprayings of crude oil, and in extremely hot weather 

 if the pigs suffer with heat, water can be thrown on the 

 ground under the shades each day. 



