General Care of Sivine 27 
well for a part of the floor, but in those parts in which 
the animals sleep and in which young pigs are kept, 
a well-matched plank floor is better. Young pigs that 
are kept on cement floors are likely to suffer from 
lameness and enlarged joints. 
When a large number of swine are kept, it is best 
to have them divided into separate lots, and not to 
confine very many together. They should be given 
a variety of food and allowed access to fresh, clean 
earth. There is often noticed in swine a disposition 
to eat dirt; this indicates a craving for mineral sub- 
stances. This appetite can usually be satisfied by a 
mixture of one part of common salt, two parts of air- 
slaked lime, one part of sulfur, two parts of charcoal, 
and one part of wood-ashes. This mixture should be 
placed where the swine can get it freely. In case 
garbage or swill from cities is used, care must be 
taken in its feeding, as such material is likely to con- 
tain substances that are poisonous. Garbage or animal 
food that is badly decomposed is also likely to contain 
poisons. Swine need clean wholesome food, as well as 
other animals. 
In case swine are confined in permanent buildings 
during the winter, the quarters should be thoroughly 
cleaned, disinfected and whitewashed as soon as the 
animals can be turned out to pasture. 
It is often an excellent plan to have some rubbing- 
posts in the yards where swine are kept. Old cloths 
tied to these posts and kept saturated with erude petro- 
leum furnish excellent means for ridding the hogs of 
lice. 
