Beginner's Problems 371 



THE FARM 



Having considered the locality, it is well to ask a few 

 questions regarding the farm itself : Are the farm prod- 

 ucts suitable for hog feeding? Is the land sufficiently 

 well drained to permit hogs running on pasture during 

 the greater part of the year ? Is there abundant shade, 

 or will artificial shade be necessary? Does the over- 

 flow from adjoining farms run over the place and thus 

 increase the danger of infection ? Are there many other 

 hog-men in the vicinity? If so, are they careless about 

 the spread of disease ? Have they given the community 

 a reputation for producing good stock, or do the buyers 

 look askance at everything coming from that source ? 



If the farm is to be devoted largely to hogs, the greater 

 part of its area should be capable of producing the staple 

 cereals and one or more legumes. If cows are kept for 

 dairy purposes, it should be determined whether the 

 skim-milk or other by-products will be utilized more 

 economically by pigs or by calves. About one pig to 

 a cow may be maintained if half the calves are raised, 

 but if all the calves are to be. raised, a smaller number 

 of pigs must be kept. In general, one may safely count 

 on one pig to each seven pounds of milk available daily. 

 If dairying is followed only part of the year, the time the 

 pigs are on hand must be adjusted to the supply of milk. 



Swine are particularly adapted to dairy farms where 

 the skim-milk can help fill in the gap between the wean- 

 ing and fattening period. With the exception of high- 

 grade dairy heifer calves, pigs will pay a better price 

 for skim-milk than any other class of stock. In fact, 

 under most good systems of farming, pigs and dairy 

 cows on the same farm will pay better than either one 



