FARROWING TIME 227 



condition than he will be immediately after weaning, 

 hence will receive less of a set-back than he would later 

 in life. By the time the pig is weaned he will have had 

 time to recover from the fright he received in being cas- 

 trated and be ready to ^o ahead undisturbed in the proc- 

 ess of pork production. 



A Normal Pig. — In castrating a normal pig an incision 

 is made through the skin of the scrotum and also through 

 the membrane that encloses the testicle. This membrane 

 is allowed to fall back and is cut loose at the inner part 

 of the testicle so that the cords may be pulled out to some 

 extent and then cut off. They should not be cut oflf 

 abruptly, but rather scraped off. The membrane will by 

 this time have gone back into the opening and the other 

 testicle is removed in a similar manner. 



Before making the incision, the place where it is to be 

 made should be thoroughly washed with an antiseptic 

 solution of some kind, such as the coal tar dips or carbolic 

 acid. A 3 to 5 per cent solution will usually answer the 

 purpose. After removing the testicle some of this solu- 

 tion should also be put into the wound and the pig given 

 his liberty. In all operations of this kind the incision 

 should be made low enough in the scrotum to allow any 

 fluid from within to run out when the pig stands on his 

 feet. A separate incision should be made for^each testicle 

 and the cut should always be vertical and never cross the 

 median line. The knife that is used for this operation 

 should be thoroughly clean and the hands should also be 

 repeatedly washed in the antiseptic solution. If these 

 conditions prevail, there is no danger of anybody losing 

 many pigs as a result of castration. 



Many people are so imbued with superstition, even at 

 the present day, that they select a certain phase of the 



