522 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
July 15 
THE HOG; THE POOR MAN’S STOCK. 
HOW TO RAISE PIGS, SHOTES AND HOGS ON 
THE FORTY-ACRE RUN-DOWN FARM 
WITH PLEASURE AND PROFIT. 
I am not writing from the rich man’s 
standpoint; he can take care of himself. 
It is to the poor man with his family to 
feed, the fertility of his farm going, and 
he becoming discouraged, I would ex¬ 
tend a helping hand. The hog is pre¬ 
eminently the poor man’s stock; a cash 
article at any age. A few dollars or a 
month’s wages will set you up in busi¬ 
ness at any time of the year, and the 
rich man cannot take away from you, 
for hogs cannot be raised in large lots; 
40 to 50 seem about the limit. 
How to Begin. —To commence hog 
raising, one must look ahead, and 
prepare food and pasture before he 
gathers in his stock, but he can 
commence any month in the year. 
Suppose we commence in the Sum¬ 
mer by buying six sows, April pigs. 
Select every one of them, not fancy, but 
good colors, wide and of good length, 
such as will eat anything and every¬ 
thing, keep fat and make good 
breeders and mothers. Do not buy the 
old sow; she will eat up the garden, 
chickens and children, and have a lot 
of pigs just when you don’t want them. 
Turn the shotes into the grass lot; see 
that they have plenty of shade and 
water. Do not let them sleep in the 
dust. Feed them the house slops, waste 
from the garden, shell tnem a little corn 
night and morning, and rub their backs 
with the cob. Keep them gentle. Let 
them glean the wheat field and oat 
patch, but see them every day, and give 
them a little something. Keep a box 
of charcoal and salt where they can get 
at it all the time. Let them glean the 
farm the first Winter. Keep them not 
fat but growing all the time. Provide 
warm but well-ventilated quarters for 
them to sleep. Keep them out of the 
dust, and give them clean fresh beds fre¬ 
quently. 
Put a carefully-selected male with 
them in January, so the pigs will pre¬ 
sent themselves in April. At this time, 
isolate every one of the sows. Give to 
each a separate inclosure and a sheltered 
bed. 
How to Feed. —From these gilts, you 
can expect 30 pigs. Let each i-.de family 
stay in their separate inclosure until 
the pigs get to know their mamma, and 
to follow her out of the bed; you can 
then turn all together, and put them 
into the clover patch if you have it, or 
if not, into the field prepared for them 
in which is growing a section of rye, a 
little wheat, a little Winter oats and, 
perhaps, a little Crimson clover and early- 
sown Spring oats. This, with the char¬ 
coal and salt box, the house slops, a little 
grain when needed, a pen in the field 
where you can meet the pigs every 
morning, and give them a little shelled 
corn, with plenty of shade and water, 
ought to bring all in fine condition up to 
September 1. When you select your six 
breeding gilts, keep them back, and 
turn all the others in the field of cow 
peas now ready for fattening. The cow 
peas may be raised on corn stubble, but 
turn it good and deep early in the sea¬ 
son, and at the approach of planting 
time, prepare a good seed-bed on the 
surface and plant in drills the middle of 
May for this section (Kentucky.) The 
Black cow peas are best. They yield 
more grain, and keep sound longer on 
the ground. Plant the earliest next the 
water, medium next, and latest at the 
back of the field, so they will be less 
disturbed in making their later growth. 
This with care, good water, and good 
sleeping quarters, will bring your hogs 
up to the butcher’s block at Christmas, 
when your six old hogs should weigh 
from 400 to 500 pounds, and the pigs 300 
to 350. 
Breeding Notes. —Handle your male 
pigs when a month old, every one of 
them; don’t keep a pig of your own rais¬ 
ing for your own use. Never disfigure a 
pig’s ear or tail for purposes of identi¬ 
fication. Treat che pigs so well they 
will stay at home, and see them so 
often that you will know them any¬ 
where. Never keep an old sow over 
Winter; let her raise one set of pigs, 
and then to the chopping block. Never 
allow a male hog on the place except in 
January. 
The Poland-China is the best breed, 
because it has every desirable quality 
bred into it, and the undesirable quali¬ 
ties bred out; but there are many types 
of the Poland-China, and one must se¬ 
lect to suit his own tastes. Some raisers 
contend that hogs raised continuously 
from gilts will lose in size and stamina; 
I do not think so, but if after two or 
three years of trial, you have a suspicion 
that others have better hogs than you, 
select your breeding gilts from outside. 
This is the way to get the money and 
pleasure out of hogs. Never wrestle 
with an old sow. 
To keep hogs healthy, isolate them 
from all other hogs. If you notice in 
the lot a sick hog, quarantine him at 
once. Contagious diseases are not often 
imported in their first stages. If the 
sick hog get worse, kill him and bury 
him in some part of the farm where me 
hogs will not run for a year. 
A Good Job. —To run six or eight gilts 
over Winter, and bring them with 30 
or 40 pigs, big and fat, to the butcher’s 
block the next Christmas, will fully oc¬ 
cupy about 16 acres of good land, but a 
little run down. One acre should be in 
artichokes, which with the gleaning of 
the farm, will carry the gilts over Win¬ 
ter with but little grain. Five acres for 
Spring and Summer should be a mixture 
of everything that will grow quickly and 
early, ana ~.iat a hog would relish; about 
10 acres should be grown in crops for 
fattening. Cow peas, when they will 
grow, are better than corn to pasture 
down with hogs, because they do not ex¬ 
haust the land, do not waste like corn 
when the hogs are feeding on them, and 
are easier cultivated. Weeds follow 
hogs, but turn them under with the 
waste left by the hogs, and your land 
will rapidly increase in fertility. Do 
not get greedy, and overstock your little 
place. A few, well-kept, will give more 
of pleasure and profit with less of care 
and anxiety than too many. 
Last Christmas, an epicure sat with 
us, one who had traveled in many coun¬ 
tries, and once around the world. After 
the dessert had been served, he handed 
up his plate and asked for a bit more of 
the ham. Carefully testing it, he turned 
to the mistress of the house, and said, 
“Well, Madam, I have eaten ham in this 
and many other countries, but I have 
never tasted anything equal to this.” 
Kentucky. j. a. m’kee. 
THE GUINEA FOWL 
There is no place in this country 
where Guineas are bred in large num¬ 
bers. They are not salable in market, 
as a rule, but few being shipped, as they 
are seldom raised for market purposes, 
though I am sure that, if educated to the 
excellent qualities of the Guinea for the 
table, customers would prefer them, as 
they are equal to some game birds, and 
are full-breasted, the proportion of offal 
being small. The objection to them is 
that they “steal” their nests, and are 
shy, making it difficult to find the eggs. 
A Guinea hen will lay a hundred or 
more eggs in a year (but very few in 
Winter), as they thrive best when given 
plenty of room for foraging. 
They entail no expense for keep, as 
they are active, work diligently for in¬ 
sects, and can secure more than a sup¬ 
ply for their wants. They do no harm, 
however, as they do not scratch. If 
hatched with a few young chickens, the 
young Guineas learn the ways of the 
chicks, and become more domesticated; 
but as their eggs require 28 days for in¬ 
cubation, they must be put in the nest 
a week before the eggs from hens. 
The males are pugnacious in the barn¬ 
yard. It is the female that gives the 
familiar sound of “Joe Clark,” the male 
making a chatter. Their activity and 
vigilance protect them from enemies. 
On a large ranch, with the Guineas 
taught to be tame, and with some per¬ 
son to look after them, they should 
prove profitable, as they cost nothing 
for food in Summer. The difficulty at 
first would be to create a ready market 
for the carcasses. The eggs, though 
small, are claimed as richer than eggs 
from hens. The young ones are tender 
at first, need good care, and quickly 
succumb to lice, cold and exposure, but 
as soon as well feathered, are then very 
hardy. A shed facing the south is the 
only shelter they require unless the cli¬ 
mate is very cold. r. rr. Jacobs. 
Thinking Animals. —Wm. Houseman, 
in an article with this title, gives the 
following illustrations: 
The old female elephant which, seeing a 
stack of timber about to fall upon some 
men who were taking it down (in Ceylon), 
turned her powerful hind quarters to the 
falling mass, and supported it until plank 
by plank it was removed, seemed to reason 
instantaneously, for she did it unbidden, 
and stood her ground without encourage¬ 
ment from any man; and the cat which I, 
with several other witnesses, saw attempt 
to ring the bell by tugging at an old-fash¬ 
ioned long bell-rope, after the usual plain¬ 
tive request to have the door opened for 
her egress had failed, no doubt reasoned 
thus: “If I can pull that rope as they do, 
the bell will ring, the servant will come, 
and as she enters, I will depart.” 
Breeders’ Directory. 
White Wyandottes Exclusively.— 
Write wants. Spencer’s Poultry Farm, Phenlx, R. 1. 
I CPUnOMC-White and Buff. 200 Hens Tor 
LLUnUnilO sale at It each. Show birds. 12 
and *3. DKLLHUKST FARM8, Mentor, Ohio 
uni CTE1MC— Show animals, all ages, large rich 
lIULul LI Hu milking Butter-Bred Herd. 
GUERNSEYS. 
84 Coivs averaged 399 pounds 
butter each in 1898 Some 
choice young stock for sale. 
ELLERSLIE STOCK FARM, 
RHINECL1FF, N. Y 
Registered Jersey Cattle 
For Milk and Butter. 
R. F. SHANNON, 907 Liberty 8t., Pittsburgh, Pa. 
BLOODED LIVE STOCK 
Sheep —Oxfords,Shropshires,South- 
downs. Fancy Poultry. Plg«— 
Berkshires, PoTand-Chinas, Chester 
Whites, Yorkshires. Catalogue free. 
H. Ur HOLMES; HarrUburg, Pm 
LargeYorkshirePigs 
THE ENGLISH BACON BREED. 
Healthy, hardy and most prolific of all breeds 
Have raised 147 pigs from four sows the past year 
Choice Boars. Gilts and bred sows for sale by 
HILLS & PRICK, Crystal 8pring Farm, Delaware, O. 
nm Akin PLUM A c— Large strain. Weigh from 
rULAIHI'UllmHO 600 to800 lbs. The business 
farmers' hog for sale at business prices. Write for 
Information. F. H. Gates & Sons, Chittenango, N.Y 
IMPROVED CHESTER WHITES 
of the best breeding and all ages for sale at reason 
able prices. Pamphlets and prices free. 
CIIA3. K. RECORD, Peterboro, N. Y 
POULTRY 
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$£T Hand Bone, Shell,Corn 
. O 4. Grit Mill for Poultiymen. 
Daley Bone Cutter. Power Mills. 
> Circular and testimonials Free. 
WILSON BltOS.. Easton, Pa, 
Newton’s fHW TTld 
Improved T» 1 lb 
Holds them firmly, draws 
them forward when lying 
down, pushes back when 
standing, gives freedom 
of head, keeps them clean 
E. C. NEWTON CO. 
Batavia,Ill. CatalogueFrcs 
Frail, fretful, sickly children can almost always 
be restored to health w.th Dr. 1). Jayne's Tonic 
Vermifuge: It destroys the parasites of disease, and 
builds up the system. 
J ay ne's Expectorant is a good cough cure, and help 
ful in all diseases of the Throat and Lungs. 
For sick headache take Jayne’s Painless Sanative 
Pills.— Adv. 
A Lame Horse 
Is neither valuable for use 
or sale. It Is better not 
to have a lame horse. 
Tuttle’s 
Elixir 
c.irei* perineiicntly nil form* of lamcne**, 
curliH, wplintM, uprnitiH, thrush, Ac. Equally 
prood for internal use for colic, founder, pneu¬ 
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Used and endorsed by Adams Express Company. 
TUttle’s Fam I ly E llxir in the household cures 
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DR. S. A. TUTTLE, 30 Beverly St., Boston, Mass. 
Beware of so-called Elixirs, none genuine hut Tuttles. 
25 gallon packet, 50 cents; 100 gallon, 12. If drug¬ 
gist cannot supply, send 11.76 for 100 gallon packet to 
CYRIL FRANCKLYN, 
Cotton Exchange, Hanover Square, New York City. 
THE CHAIN HANGING 
GATTLE STANCHION. 
The most practical and humane Fastener ever in¬ 
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Trade 
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New York State 
Veterinary College. 
At Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. 
The best equipment for scientific and practical in¬ 
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Highest requirements for matriculation and gradua¬ 
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Instruction begins September 28, 1899. Scholarships 
available for veterinary students. 
Tuition Free to New York State Students. 
For extended announcement address 
Professor JAMES LAW, F.R.C.V.S., Director. 
The Business Hen. 
By II. W. COLLING WOOD. Price, 40c 
This book deals with the business side of poultry¬ 
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followed on several piofitable poultry farms. 
IT COVERS THE WHOLE OROUND. 
The Rural New-Yokkeb sells all farm books. 
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