404 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. 



Ings said, "They are as tough as clothes-lines and as large as 

 broomsticks." The bum-gut cutter said that "it seemed like tak- 

 ing out automobile tires, and I have not cut or torn a single one, 

 they are so tough." The caul fat and ruffle fat after guts were 

 drawn off were much heavier than the average in corresponding 

 corn-fed hogs. The leaf-lard pullers and ham facers complained 

 about so much fat and weight in lifting the leaf out, and it was 

 more bound down to the inside of the abdominal walls. The split- 

 ter of backbones and sawyer of the shanks said "it was like cutting 

 iron or railroad ties." All bones were bones, large and strong. 

 The carcasses were symmetrically filled out like barrels, having 

 funnel legs, and all front feet were stiff and rigid, straight put, 

 while in other hogs the front feet are generally limp and dangling. 



Their skins were well filled, shining and smooth as the human. 

 When I read this sentence to Mr. Hodgins he laughed and said: 

 "Don't credit it to alfalfa, for we dip our hogs every two weeks 

 in two or three inches of crude oil and never know what lice, 

 mange or scurf are, nor hog-cholera so far, while our neighbors 

 on all sides of us have had it and laid it to tankage. We fed the 

 same tankage they did, for we bought it from the same parties 

 and at the same time." Their bodies were solid and the meat was 

 of that marbled appearance of lean and fat, for the fat of an al- 

 falfa hog is whiter, and here is where we get the two strips of 

 lean in the bacon — rustling for a living makes muscle. 



Alfalfa Pasture for Hogs. — ^No better plant has 

 been found for hog pasture than alfalfa, nor will the 

 hogs greatly injure the alfalfa if rightly managed. 

 In any event, even if they do injure it, it is well to 

 provide it, plowing it when seriously hurt and re- 

 sowing. Certain points of management, however, 

 will avoid nearly all injury. 



Do Not Overstock. — The pasture ought to be 

 larger than the hogs need. The number of hogs 

 that a pasture will carry varies greatly, accord- 

 ing to the size of the pigs and the quality of the 

 pasture. It may be said that an acre will carry 

 nicely about 1,200 to 1,600 pounds of swine, accord- 



