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773 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
The Farmers Club. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
[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.] 
Some Pertinent Pig Questions. 
Several Subscribers — 1. How can a farmer, without a 
dairy, breed March pigs and put them on the November 
market weighing 275 pounds ? 2. Should the bow raise 
two litters of pigs per year ? 3. Is there an intimate rela¬ 
tion between immature breeding and disease ? 
Ans.—W e have called upon some of our swine breeders 
to answer these questions. The following replies will open 
the discussion : 
1. One must have good stock, good grass and feed— 
everything good. 2. If I were short of stock I would 
surely breed twice. The sow can do so very well if rightly 
attended to, and be in the best condition to breed for spring 
pigs. 3. Not necessarily; take human nature for your 
guid6. SIMON" COX. 
Stark County, Ill. 
1. By feeding middlings, oil meal, ground oats and shelled 
corn soaked, the pigs can be made to reach that weight 
and over. 2. Yes, as many sows become barren if only one 
litter a year is raised. 3. I think not; but breeding from 
immature pigs will reduce the size of the offspring and 
lessen the prolificacy of the dams. C. W. BAKEK. 
Delaware County, O. 
1. It is not easy to put March pigs on the November 
market weighing 275 pounds without milk, though I be¬ 
lieve it can be done by feeding ground corn and oats 
soaked 24 to 36 hours before feeding, giving them as much 
slop, made of shorts, as they will drink. 2. No. 3. Yes. 
Madison County, Ill. s. w. RENFRO. 
1. It can be done by liberally and judiciously feeding well- 
bred pigs with shorts, oats and corn. March pigs, however, 
are not, as a rule, profitable in this latitude. The weather 
is too uncertain, all things considered, to enable one to 
have the best success with pigs farrowed earlier than the 
second week in April Pigs need warm air and plenty of 
sunshine and these we are not always sure of in March. 
Artificial heat can not take the place of Nature’s air and 
sun for a young pig. 2. No. If the constitution and vi¬ 
tality of the stock are to be maintained, one litter is all a 
sow should raise. After raising a litter in spring she needs 
the rest of the season to recruit her energies preparatory to 
raising another. Fall pigs are, as a rule, not profitable. 
No animal is so susceptible to cold as a young pig. 3. Yes, 
pretty much all the diseases that swine are heir to may be 
ascribed to two things: immature breeding, and an exclu¬ 
sive corn diet. 
Columbia County, Wis. GEORGE WYLIE. 
A Veteran’s Opinion. 
1. While March pigs make the most profitable feeders for 
early market, yet it is not advisable to raise them, unless 
one has proper shelter—warm, light, airy and roomy—with 
good feeding floors. If the pigs are to be exposed to 
storms so frequent in March, or confined to dark, small 
pens, the loss from thumps and other ailments will cause 
much disappointment. No one should undertake the busi¬ 
ness of raising such pigs unless he is willing to attend to 
all the little details of caring for them ; for such attention 
to small things is a guarantee of success. On farms 
where no milk can be spared for the pigs, the first aim 
should be to have a strain of good milking sows. There is 
as much difference in the milking capacity of sows as of 
cows. The next essential thing is warm feed. March pigs 
must learn to eat with their dams at an early age. The 
troughs should be shallow, and V-shaped; pigs seldom 
attempt to get into them. On sunny days they should be 
kept out of-doors, and inside on stormy ones. I prepare a 
swill of shorts and ground oats by steaming and add oil 
meal in small quantities, increasing the amount as the 
pigs grow, in order to supersede the milk. When the pigs 
are three weeks old, while feeding the sow on whole corn, I 
never fail to sprinkle whole oats on the floor; pigs are 
strongly inclined to imitate and soon learn to eat the oats, 
and thus obtain considerable exercise. The intelligent 
feeder will be ever watchful not to overfeed; but he 
should increase the rations from week to week or the supply 
from the sow will fall short. A litter of seven or eight 
pigs will soon need as much food as the dam. In April I 
turn my pigs on Blue Grass, but feed them regularly three 
times a day until clover is large enough—say by May 25— 
then I feed twice a day and stop steaming food, as the 
warm temperature would sour it too soon. Whatever 
may be written against steamed food, an experience of 
many years bears me out in saying that there is nothing 
equal to it for young pigs, especially in cold weather. I 
now shell and soak the corn, and feed it night and morn¬ 
ing on the floors, having first given them their swill to 
drink. If shelled corn is fed in troughs, the sow will take 
the advantage and swallow it whole; while when fed on 
the floor, all stand an equal chance, and masticate it 
better. I let the pigs suckle until they wean themselves 
or the sow weans them, but I seldom leave them over 12 
weeks with the sow. I feed each litter separately until 
they are weaned, but I never feed so many in one lot that 
each doesn’t have plenty of trough room, and all are 
yarded at night and sleep in their respective pens. By act¬ 
ing in this way I save most of the manure which adds 
much to the profit in swine husbandry. 
in July I turn the pigs into a field of peas. From two 
to three acres are sufficient for 100 pigs, so that the peas 
are not wasted. They will eat little other food ; but make 
an immense growth. When the peas are finished, sweet 
corn-stalks and all—is fed, generally in a lot adjoining 
the clover and pea field, and I always try to have the 
manure dropped where it is most needed. They can now 
be easily finished off for market, their principal ration 
being corn, with a swill of steamed shorts and squash. 
The farmer who handles 100 pigs and puts them on the No¬ 
vember market weighing 275 pounds, cannot afford to be 
constitutionally tired. I consider it by far safer for the 
average farmer to have his sows farrow from April 1 to 15; 
the difference in weight will be slight, and a 250-pound pig 
in fine merchantable condition is about what the market 
needs. 
2. It is hardly possible to breed a sow twice a year, un¬ 
less there is plenty of milk for the pigs. A sow that far 
rows on April 1, or thereabouts, and nurses her litter 12 
weeks, neeyls rest, and if she is turned to clover, with a few 
ears of corn at the end of each day, she will be in the best 
possible condition to bring a strong litter in the spring. 
I have no faith in many fall pigs; their numbers should not 
be too great for the amount of care and food one has, and 
unless they get plenty of milk they will amount to but 
very little, for all conditions are against them. In my 
opinion there is nothing equal to the sow’s milk to make 
vigorous feeders and breeders. In my experience I have 
found that when a sow is bred four times in succession 
during 18 months, the pigs of the later litters are smaller, 
and remain so during their lives, the sows saved for 
breeders out of these litters are not prolific, so that I am 
convinced there is in them a constitutional weakness due 
to excessive breeding. If one wants fall pigs, it is by far 
better to use a late sow as a dam, and have the pigs come 
in August. Again, I consider that the early weaning of 
pigs inj ares the milking functions of the sow for the future, 
just as drying up a heifer after a short period of milking is 
injurious to her future usefulness. 
3. The relation between immature breeding and disease 
is intimate. When immature breeding is followed for a 
series of years, we cannot reasonably expect that the young 
from immature parents lacking vigor and sound constitu¬ 
tions should excel them in these particulars. They have a 
feebler power of digestion and assimilation and the imma¬ 
ture sire and dam are not likely to transmit to their offspring 
what they do not possess themselves—power of endurance 
and a strong constitution. A faulty conformation is ever 
open to disease. Deterioration may not take place in a 
single generation, but there are thousands of farmers who 
practice immature breeding for years in succession, and 
these are the very men who so often ask our aid in treat¬ 
ing the different ailments of their hogs. Another result 
of immature breeding is a failure to give birth to the pigs, 
and there is always an uncertainty what kind of mothers 
the dams will make. In swine breeding, as in breeding any 
other kind of stock, the best is only good enough. 
Dane County. Wis. theo. louis. 
A Novice on the Farm. 
J. L., Baltimore. Md.—l have just bought a farm in 
Maryland; but know very little about farming or truck¬ 
ing. 1. What would be the best crops ? 2. What would 
pay best f 3. Are asparagus and cauliflower hard to raise ? 
4. What soil is the best adapted for them ? 5. What fer¬ 
tilizer would be needed and how should it be applied ? 
ANS.—To answer these queries satisfactorily would re¬ 
quire a book, in fact several books. In the first place, as 
our friend says he knows very little of farming and truck¬ 
ing, we would advise Mm either to rent his farm and hire 
out to some successful, practical farmer to learn the busi¬ 
ness, or else hire some successful reliable farmer to work 
for him, give him full charge and work under his direc¬ 
tion. This may not be the pleasantest way to begin, 
but we feel sure it will be the most profitable. Meantime 
a study of the best agricultural and horticultural books 
and papers would be of immense advantage. 1. How much 
ground have you ? Is it sandy, gravelly, clayey, loamy, 
mucky, hilly, level, dry, moist, fertile ? These are essen¬ 
tial points and without a knowledge of them it is impos¬ 
sible to give any advice about crops. Soil that is excellent 
for cauliflowers, cabbages, etc., might be totally unsuited 
to wheat or many other crops. 2. This would depend 
largely upon the soil, location, proximity to markets, and 
many other circumstances. Asparagus, onions, cauliflow¬ 
ers, cabbages and other garden truck pay some gardeners 
well. Others find profit in potatoes. Still others make 
grain-growing, dairying, etc., profitable. A combination 
of two or more of these is sometimes more advantageous 
than any one alone. 3. Asparagus is not difficult to grow, 
but it requires special tools and a knowledge of its require¬ 
ments to insure success. In short, it is a special crop. 
Market gardeners regard the growing of good cauliflowers 
as one of their greatest successes. 4. Asparagus succeeds 
best in this latittude on light, sandy or loamy soils, free 
from stones. Cauliflowers require a heavier soil, but one 
that is rich and retentive of moisture. 5. Commercial fer¬ 
tilizers are most largely used, though barn-yard manure 
is used to some extent. Leading fertilizer manufacturers 
make special brands for these different crops specially 
suited to their needs. Asparagus Culture, 50 cents; Cauli¬ 
flowers, by Brill, 20 cents; Gardening for Profit, by Hender¬ 
son, $ 2 , will all be helpful and will be mailed from this 
office postpaid. 
Pipe for Conveying Spring Water a Long Distance. 
C. E. C., Stephenson, Fa.—I wish to convey water to 
my barn from a spring about 600 feet away. There is a 
fall of from 15 to 20 feet in the entire distance. As the 
stream is small I want to lose none of the water on its 
passage. What kind of pipe should I use and how deep 
should it be laid ? 
Ans.—T he size of the pipe is immaterial if it is large 
enough to pass the water freely without obstruction from 
air gathered in it. In laying pipes so long a distance it is 
difficult to get a perfectly even grade, and a small pipe will 
almost certainly have vertical bends in it larger than the 
diameter, and air will gather in these and stop the flow. 
Cheapness is the principal item, and the next the complete 
exclusion of sediment or any floating obstruction. Glazed 
pipes, V/i inch in diameter, with joints made tight by 
cementing, would answer the purpose very well, and this 
size would afford ample space for air to collect without 
stopping the flow. The pipe should be laid deep enough to 
escape warming up in the summer, by which air in the 
pipe is expanded, so that it would press on the water 
so as to check its passage. Freezing is scarcely probable 
in Virginia, but there will be no risk in the coldest 
weather, or in the summer, if the pipes are laid 18 inches 
deep. 
“Record” of a Potato Digger. 
O. P. H., Eden Valley, N. Y.— How many bushels of 
potatoes can be dug with a digger? With the Boss 
potato digger, and the help of three men I have dug 275 
bushels and picked them up in one day. Beat this who 
can I 
Ans.— “ About 300 bushels ” is the only other “ record ” 
we have at hand. The pamphlets issued by the proprietors 
of the various potato diggers contain statements from 
those who claim to have dug more than this; but we count 
only records that we are able to personally verify. You 
will notice on another page a “ record ” of 100 bushels 
made by a Connecticut man many years ago. We make 
improved machinery, but do we raise such men nowadays? 
Wanted; A Blue-Bird House. 
F. K. P., Delavan, Wis.—How can I fix an enticing blue¬ 
bird house ? The blue-bird is with me by far the most 
worthy of our American birds; so far as I know he is 
simply perfect. As our migratory birds have gone South 
now is the time to commence universal war on the English 
sparrow. Among our bird friends the various woodpeckers 
that hunt out borers in currant stems, apple and other trees 
should be sacredly protected and encouraged. 
Ans. — The R. N.-Y. calls upon its friends to answer this. 
It is a good subject to discuss. 
High and Low-Grade Fertilizers. 
An Old Farmer, Monroe County, N. F.--In The Rural 
of October 25 mention is made of “ low-grade ” and “ high- 
grade ” fertilizers. I would esteem it a favor if you would 
tell me What I am to understand by these terms. Does 
the high grade contain something that the low grade does 
not contain, or is there more of some valuable ingredient 
in the high grade than in the low grade, and if so, what is 
it ? Or is the difference due to the quality, or solubility, 
or availability of the ingredients ? Please give us an illus¬ 
tration of a high and low grade article, telling just what 
each contains, and the value and cost of each. I believe 
you are right, but many of my neighbors prefer the low- 
priced fertilizers. Some of them are using dissolved South 
Carolina rock phosphate, and say that It produces just as 
good results as the higher-priced article. Bat perhaps 
they are not using what you term a “ high grade ” fer¬ 
tilizer. 
Ans. —Here is a forcible question—from an experienced 
farmer, too, “ Why use a high-grade fertilizer ?” Because 
(1) it costs no more than a low-grade for freight. Because 
(2) it costs no more to spread it on your land. Because (3) 
it costs the firm that mixes it no more than to mix a low- 
grade. Because (4) the per cent, of plant food ingredients 
is (as a rule) higher in high-grades than in low-grades. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
M. M., Puerto Plata, Santa Domingo.— Where can I buy 
seeds of potatoes—not tubers; but seed-balls? 
Ans. —We believe most of the seedsmen advertising in 
The R. N.-Y. can furnish these seeds. G. W. P. Jerrard, 
Caribou, Maine, can doubtless furnish them. 
A. M. C., Bunker Hill, III.— How old must sweet chest¬ 
nuts be before they bear? 
Ans. —Some seedlings bear when four to five years old; 
others not until they are ten or even fifteen years old. The 
Paragon and many Japan seedlings bear when from three 
to five years of age. 
C. E. S., Ogdensburg, Pa.— I have bought a swamp and 
drained it. Part of it is sandy loam and part black muck: 
what shall I grow on it that will pay the best? 
ANS.—If you can flood the swamp, why not try cranber¬ 
ries? Cabbage, celery or onions should do well on such 
soil if theie is a good market for these products. If hay is 
valuable Red-top followed by Timothy will probably do 
well; the best crop for the place will depend upon what 
you can sell as well as what you can grow. 
H. S. R., Brooklyn, N. Y. —1. How many acres of land 
in the vicinity of New York City would support a family 
of four persons if devoted to market gardening and small 
fruit culture ? The income should be eaual to $1,000 a year 
in the city, with $100 to §200 a year profit. 2. Would it be 
possible for a young man physically capable, but who has 
had the experience of only a few summer months of farm 
work, to undertake farming as a business, trusting to 
books, papers, etc., for the needed information ? 3 Where 
would it be advisable for him to settle ? 
Ans.— 1. Avery few acres if worked to their full capacity, 
but in that kind of market gardening a man is required 
for each acre of land worked. Any certain number of 
acres we might give would be mere guess-work, as the 
number would vary with different crops and in different 
seasons. 2 . Yes. it would be possible; but success would 
not be probable. By all means a young man with so little 
experience should serve an apprenticeship to a market 
gardener or fruit grower. 3. Within reach of the great 
city markets and the seaside watering places. We would 
like the opinions of our readers upon these questions. 
One cent will mail this paper to your friend 
in any part of the United States, Canada or 
Mexico, after you have read it and written 
your name on the corner. 
