CHAPTER IV 
FARM EQUIPMENT 
Learn to Do Things.—Farmers do not need to be 
skilled carpenters to make a number of useful articles for 
the farm. It is very easy to construct a number of small 
houses and gates during those winter months when the 
weather does not permit working out in the fields. The 
saving from increased comforts for the young livestock 
and from improved ways of doing things will justify 
learning how to do many things. 
Hog Houses.—A brood sow, at farrowing time, needs 
a house away from the other hogs. Her pigs should not 
be disturbed, and they need a clean place to start to grow 
into strong vigorous hogs. An elaborate hog house is not 
needed in such a warm country as ours, but a simple 
portable house will do very well. The diagram (Fig. 86) 
suggests a very simple plan of making a portable house, 
large enough for one sow and her family. It does not 
take long to make the house, and it will last for a long 
time. 
Shipping crates are not used often, except in handling 
breeding stock, but it is well to know how to make them. 
A simple crate as shown in the illustration (Fig. 21) will 
do very well. It should be made of strong boards, with 
a substantial bottom. The most common size is twenty 
inches wide, three feet four inches high, and four feet 
long. 
Feed Troughs.—Feed troughs are always in demand 
where there are pigs or chickens. They should not be of 
33 
