304 SWINE 



ficient gain to pay for his feed, which will probably more 

 than overbalance anything that may be gained by waiting 

 for a better market. 



HANDLING AND SHIPPING HOGS. 



If swine are raised on a large enough scale to produce 

 hogs in car load lots, they can be shipped to market di- 

 rectly by the producer in such lots. If the farmer does 

 not produce this number, a few neighbors may combine 

 and ship their own hogs, or ii; either case the hogs may 

 be sold to the country buyer or local shipper. At any 

 rate, hogs to sell to the best advantage should be uniform 

 in size, be well fed and in proper condition in accordance 

 with the market demand, and should be of the same color, 

 because a drove of hogs that is uniform as to size, condi- 

 tion and color will sell much better than a mixed bunch. 

 A few white hogs in a bunch of black ones or vice versa 

 may detract more from the value of the bunch than the 

 white individuals are worth in themselves. Before being 

 shipped hogs should not be fed abnormally, because any 

 sudden changes in a ration at any time are more or less 

 harmful. Immediately before shipping it is best not to 

 feed hogs too heavily. They should be given a light feed 

 which, to make it better still, should be somewhat of a 

 dry nature. 



The car in which hogs are to be shipped should be pro- 

 vided with bedding in accordance with the season. Dur- 

 ing the winter there is no better bedding, either for use 

 in cars or otherwise, than rye straw or shredded corn fod- 

 der. Oat straw is not as good because it is more heating 

 and will allow the hogs to become damp and appear 

 steaming when they come out of the car, in which condi- 

 tion they will not present so attractive an appearance, 



