1893 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
“ I aim to give them a start towards independence 
when about the age of 10 days by giving them a little 
shelled corn, or, better, wheat, in a pen to themselves 
near the sows’ nest. In that pen I want a shallow 
trough containing a little slop at a temperature of about 
90 degrees. This is made of brown middlings and 
water. I scatter the shelled corn on both sides 
of the trough, so that the pigs passing over the 
trough are sure to get into it and get a taste of the 
slop. I have no skimmed milk, as I keep but one or 
two cows, and the milk and kitchen slops go to the 
poultry-yard. 
“Experience with 45 head of fall pigs now on hand is 
to the effect that they do as well with wheat as with 
corn and slop. This lot never saw slop till they were 
10 weeks old, and, so far as I can tell, they have done 
just as well as others raised on slop and corn.” 
Feed Wheat and Sell Corn. 
“ Now why do you feed wheat ?” 
“1. It is cheaper than corn, because at 68 cents 
per bushel, it is cheaper than corn at 40 cents a 
bushel. This is how I came to feed wheat. When I 
can sell corn at 40 to 50 cents per bushel, I can make 
more out of it than I can by selling wheat at 68 cents. 
The main reason now for feeding wheat, which I have 
learned by experience, lies in the fact that wheat is a 
more perfect ration than corn for a young growing 
animal.” 
“ You do not feed all wheat?” 
“ No, I feed a little corn every day ; but in the pro¬ 
portion of two parts of wheat to one of corn by 
measure.” 
“How long do you feed in this proportion?” 
“ Till they are fully fattened. I want to stop the 
wheat feeding gradually when they are six weeks old, 
before they are fully fattened, dropping it off gradually 
for two weeks and increasing the amount of corn. 
This gives four weeks on a full corn ration. If I 
were feeding in a dry pen, I would continue the 
wheat to the end, but would gradually lessen the 
quantity as the end approached ; but as my stock are 
fed in open fields on a grass range, the grass balances 
the ration. To make plain the value of wheat for 
this purpose, it has nearly four times the amount of 
bone and tissue-forming properties that are contained 
in corn.” 
“How do you feed the wheat? You know the 
claim is made that hogs will not thrive on it ?” 
“ I feed dry, whole grain—not in troughs or in piles, 
but scattered as thin as for chickens on a floor or grass 
sward. The object is to compel the animal to consume 
it twice in mastication. The slow mastication and 
the hardness of the grain excite an extra flow of 
saliva, and this is the best agent to liberate sugar 
from the starch in the grain. Science teaches that 
this is the best known agent for this purpose. I feed 
corn somewhat in the same manner, only in the ear, 
never feeding more at the winding up than they will eat 
up clean in 90 minutes. I always want them to be ready 
for their feed. I only feed twice a day, at stated times, 
as regularly as possible and not varying more than 
10 or 15 minutes. I regard this as important, for I 
have noticed that, when fed at regular hours, the 
saliva will escape from the mouth at the first or second 
bite. When fed at an unseasonable hour, this is not 
the case.” 
Healthy Pork Walks Itself Off. 
“ How do you secure perfect health in your herd 
while pushing them to market so young ?” 
“ I think I can secure it by just feeding wheat, it 
being a well-balanced ration of itself. Experience 
teaches that it cannot be done on corn with the very 
best of slopping. One may do it in this way for a time 
or two, but he cannot keep it up. 
“Another very important point is that they should 
have salt as well as ashes from good sound wood. 
These should be given to them not once or twice a 
week, hut every day. I do not think that I could put 
pigs on the market when to 7 months old weigh¬ 
ing 225 to 250 pounds, and have them walk 2% miles 
to the railroad station without this condiment. I 
have never yet had one to break down. I do not take 
a wagon along to haul those that give out, for there 
are no give-outs.” 
It will be observed that Mr. Cory does not do much 
slopping. Although he has splendid arrangements for 
the purpose, he does not practice it to any great ex¬ 
tent in connection with his present system of feeding. 
He does not think there is much profit in feeding a 
hog great quantities of water with a small amount of 
solid matter. But he is careful to have pure drinking 
water always before them. In short, he aims in all 
his plans to cut down the labor account. 
Ross County, O. john m. jamison. 
[R. N.-Y.—Mr. Cory keeps Poland China pigs we 
understand. A further account of his methods of 
breeding, etc., will be given later. Such interviews 
as the above are very helpful to all farmers.] 
FRENCH CAP0NIZING WITH FINGERS. 
No special tools are required : a budding knife, nail 
scissors, a light darning needle, No. 4 or 5, and thread, 
a saucer with some hard-wood ashes and a small oil 
can with sweet oil are placed handy to the operator’s 
right. The bird is held firmly by an assistant—Fig. 
72. The operator commences by clearing a space of 
all the down on the middle of the belly with the 
scissors, and catches hold of the skin with the left 
hand forefinger and thumb, and pulls upward so that 
the incision in the skin may be made without injuring 
the intestines—Fig. 73. As soon as the point of the 
knife has penetrated the second skin, the scissors are 
inserted and the cut extended upwards three-quarters 
of an inch, more or less, according to the thickness of 
the operator’s forefinger. On withdrawing the scis¬ 
sors, the left hand is placed over the cut—Fig. 74—so 
as to keep the upper and lower incisions from shift¬ 
ing. Now insert the forefinger of the right hand, 
keeping along inside the walls until the spine is 
Fig. 73. 
reached ; then feel up and down the latter until you 
reach the two testicles, which are fixed to the spine ; 
get one of them under the point of the finger and nail 
and press it off its moorings, returning with it along 
the wall of the belly until the incision is reached; 
then throw it out and go back for the second testicle. 
Then drop three or four drops of sweet oil into the 
wound, take the needle and thread with a knot fixed, 
and sew up the wound with three or four stitches, as 
you would the mouth of a sack, without drawing too 
tightly; drop some oil on this seam and a pinch of 
ashes, which concludes the operation. It is, besides, 
customary to cut off the knob that would form the 
spur on the leg with the knife and the comb and lap- 
pels with the scissors, and sprinkle with ashes to stop 
the bleeding. The birds, when of proper age, will be 
all right the day following ; yet it is prudent to keep 
them indoors for a day or two. j. f. sabg 
[R. N.-Y.—This strikes us as a cruel and clumsy 
method. We print it simply to contrast it with other 
methods which are to follow.] 
163 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name and address of the 
writer to Insure attention. Before asking a question please see If It Is 
not answered In our advertising columns. Ask only a few questions 
at one time. Put questions on a separate piece of paper.] 
STRAW, STALKS AND SHEEP. 
HOW ARE THEY BEST COMBINED ? 
Mr. J. S. Woodward Tells Us. 
0. C. Howe, Berrien County, Mich. —Here one can get 
plenty of corn fodder. I grow wheat enough to give 
me 100 to 125 tons of straw. Linseed meal is $20 to 
$25 per ton, and oats 20 to 35 cents per bushel, according 
to season. Last winter I fed my sheep corn fodder twice 
a day—one-fourth pound oats and one-eighth linseed 
meal per head, and gave all the straw they would eat. 
The labor offset the manure. I figured that my sheep 
were being fed for 60 cents per 100 head a day. Now 
the question that occurs to me is how can I work it 
cheaper and still give them all they want to eat ? I 
do not believe in half-feeding, and am willing to feed 
at the rate of 10 cents per day if they can store that 
much up (in the shape of wool, lambs or mutton) where 
I can get it again. Would it pay me to cut the stalks 
and straw and then put in the meal ? Would it pay to 
steam or wet it so that it would heat ? These questions 
are of some importance to the Western farmers. Sheep 
are the only stock that pay here. We cannot compete 
with the corn States in growing hogs and cattle. A 
good dairy pays; but there is no money in beef here, 
so we fall back on sheep. I wish Mr. Woodward would 
say what is the best thing for a farmer to do who has 
100 tons of straw on the farm and wants to use it. (I 
can get $3 for it at the mill, but it is worth $2 to draw 
it there). 1 have also from 15 to 30 acres of corn stalks 
—cut up in regular manner and put in shocks, and 
15 to 30 acres of hay—clover—and can get oats on an 
average at 25 cents, and linseed meal at $20 per ton. 
Ans.—M r. Howe should consider himself very for¬ 
tunate in having so much wheat straw. It is certainly 
worth housing. Let him stack it as nicely as he may, 
yet he cannot keep it so as to have the sheep eat it to 
the best advantage. Though it may go into their feed 
racks as “ bright as a dollar,” if he will put into other 
racks some of the same quality the sheep will tell the 
difference without even smelling either. But when 
put into the barns in good condition it is worth for 
sheep feed one-third as much as clover hay and fully 
half as much as the finest Timothy hay ever made and 
more than two-thirds as much as that made in the 
ordinary way. He certainly cannot afford to sell it 
for $3 per ton, when hauling costs $2 per ton, netting 
him only $1. It is worth three times as much at least 
for manure, besides its feeding value. 
The best thing for Mr. Howe to do is to put up a 
barn large enough to house all his straw with a lower 
story made tight, warm and light, dry and airy to be 
used as sheep pens for winter feeding. It should be 
large enough to hold sheep enough to eat up and use 
for bedding all the straw he grows. There is only 
one difficulty in this plan ; as soon as he begins using 
such foods as he should, the amount of his straw will 
so increase that he will soon need another barn to 
house more straw to feed more sheep. A silo should 
also be built to hold the corn and fodder to save husk¬ 
ing the corn or to give the sheep succulent food. They 
should have all they will eat up clean every day in the 
winter. 
I should not attempt to keep sheep cheaper than 60 
cents per 100 per day ; but rather I’d see how much 
more I could get them to eat and pay for. If 60 cents 
will keep them for a day with no growth but the wool 
and we could get them to eat and digest one half more, 
there would be a fair gain in flesh. Now suppose 
they were to eat another half, so as to make the cost 
of keeping them $1.20 per day, it is easy to see that 
by increasing the cost of their keep one-third the 
growth and consequently profit would be doubled. 
In wintering sheep the effort should be to make all 
conditions as nearly like those of summer as possible, 
that is, to keep them warm and give them succulent 
food and the more they can be induced to eat, digest 
and assimilate, the greater will be the gain and the 
percentage of profit. 
It will not pay to cut dry stalks and straw, nor 
wet and steam them, so as to mix the meal with 
them, but it will pay to use the silo into which to 
cut the stalks, corn and all, for the sheep, thus saving 
the cost of huskiDg and loss of feeding value in the 
stalks exposed to the weather during fall, and, in many 
cases, winter. Nothing ever paid me better as sheep 
food than ensilage. 
The clover hay is all right. The 15 to 30 acres, say 
20, should, on an average, give 40 tons of hay. Now 
suppose that he should build the barn and silo and 
