GENERAL FARM MANAGEMENT. 
311 
whole neighborhood should be compelled to fence them out. If 
hogs are expected to yield heavy pork in the fall, they must be 
well taken care of in winter, in opposition to that very preva¬ 
lent and pernicious practice of leaving them to half starve at 
that inclement season of the year. As to the best general 
method of feeding, it appears to have been satisfactorily demon¬ 
strated by repeated experiments, that cooked food is superior 
to raw, and that Indian meal scalded with hot water, is better 
than when mixed with cold; it would, therefore, pay the farmer 
to erect a small cooking establishment, within convenient dis¬ 
tance of his hog-pens, that he may be able to carry on the bu¬ 
siness of raising and fattening swine in the most economical man¬ 
ner possible. Of the almost universal habit of feeding hogs 
and other animals with corn in the ear, it may be observed, that, 
while all experience is against it, nothing is in favor of it but 
indolence and custom. 
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Poultry.— As the farmer, from the nature of his labor, 
must always have a relish for chicken and eggs, for puddings 
and pies, it becomes his duty to take proper care of his hens ; 
and for this purpose he must have a hen-house, and a poultry 
yard, for hens will never pay if allowed to run at large, as there 
will be great loss of eggs, and greater loss of time in looking 
for them, to say nothing of the depredations of the fowls on the 
garden, and on adjoining fields of grain. 
CULTIVATION OF CROPS. 
Wheat. —Though wheat be not the great staple crop of the 
United States, it certainly is the great staple of Wiscpnsin, 
and as such deserves, and shall have particular notice in this 
paper. 
Preparation of Ground. —Here I would observe, that if 
the ground be naturally wet, it should at once be thoroughly 
drained. This must be the first preparatory step, for without 
this, all subsequent labor on it would be entirely thrown away. 
If prairie, or clover and timothy sod be intended for wheat, it 
