iti} QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JoURNAL. [1 Fes., 1898. 
absolute necessity of using nothing but the purest water as drinking water for 
the swine; and (3) the absolute necessity of protecting swine from the 
injurious effects of dust. The first necessity has been generally recognised, if 
not acted upon, by the progressive swine-breeder for some time. The ravages 
of the recent plague in the United States have emphasised the truth of the 
second, and we would do well to follow the example and advice of American 
pig-breeders, whose large experience and greater study of the subject qualify 
them to speak authoritatively thereon. The third necessity is not so generally 
recognised as the other two, and yet it is as requisite a condition of good 
health as either of the others. Swine should not be allowed to wallow in dusty 
pens, fence corners, or straw stacks. Whenever they sneeze it should be taken 
as evidence that something is wrong. In swine-breeding, clean sleeping-places 
are an absolute necessity. It is only when pigs are well bred, fed, housed, and 
managed that they will yield profitable returns. 
The accompanying diagram is a facsimile of the yard in which we kept 
fourteen pigs in comfort. The cost was trifling, as the rails, slabs, palings, 
shingles,.and posts were all split on the farm, and the place was put up during 
showery weather, when the land was too wet to work, and there was no corn- 
husking to be done. Each pig had a high and dry bed-place, eight inches 
higher than its “dining-room.”? ‘The troughs were filled from the centre 
gangway, and could be removed to be washed out without entering the sty. 
In places where timber is plentiful, a few showery days might be employed 
with advantage in erecting such a yard. On one occasion, during a flood, over 
100 pigs belonging to the neighbours found a safe retreat in this place. 
Marterran ReQurren. 
4 corner posts, 8 inches diameter. 
82 intermediate posts, 6 inches diameter. 
40 rails. 
100 slabs for back walls. 
100 palings. 
1,000 shingles. 
With these the walls and roof are complete. For the subdivisions between 
the sides— 
36 rails. 
120 palings for the gangway. 
100 slabs for raised sleeping-places. 
16 wooden troughs, which may be made of hollow logs or of sawn 
timber. 
Cost of Material. 
The 36 posts cost merely the labour of cutting and carting. 
45. &, Gh 
C6 irails Smet ge 2 ek el LE ae EET QUO 
200 slabs gS om, in ow BIO 
220 7pali rs aer ae eee ssl OST OMEO 
1,000 shingles .., Sa ce 2, y I @ @ 
5.0 0 
If the troughs are made of hollowed-out logs, labour only need be: 
considered, presuming the work is done when no other farm work is possible. 
