194 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Maz., 1900. } 
CHARCOAL AND ASHES. 
Unquestionably charcoal is a valuable hygienic agent for pigs. It wey 
corrective, and certainly prevents some diseases arising from disordered digestil® | 
functions. Wood ashes act similarly, or at least minister to similar wall 
Both charcoal and ashes are freely used by the leading American swinegrowe™ | 
There is no need to fix quantities. The best way is to keep both substame® | 
within reach of the pigs, and allow them to consult their own tastes and nee | 
If you use commercial charcoal, throw out half a sack at a time in a clean, | 
corner, and supply more when used up. All the wood ashes from the kitcht! 
fires can be used in the same way. Jf you have waste wood or rubbish bum) } 
in the big paddock, and wet it down before entirely consumed, and the pigs” 
take care of it. 
; ARTICHOKES. 
One of the very best crops a farmer can grow is the artichoke. It ® 
splendid pig feed. It is easy to grow. From 500 to 1,000 bushels per ac 
have been grown. ‘The pigs will harvest it. Once planted, it is there for I i 
Every man owning a farm ought to have his Peeehaee patch. Strange, inde 
it is so little known, and so few farmers avail themselves of this valuable al 
cheap bacon. 6 
The Jerusalem artichoke is the best variety. It is a plant growing 5 hr, 
feet high, resembling hemp. The tubers grow about the roots, and resem). 
knotty Irish potatoes. Many people are fond of eating them green. hej 
make a fine pickle, but their chief value is pig feed. Select your patch on dee 
rich, friable land; fence it with “ pig-proot” fence. : 
The best way to make this fence is to put a stout wire netting, pig fencis’ 
next to the ground; 18 inches to 22 inches wide will do; then above it two 
wires. aa will make a cheap fence, and is the only sensible pig-proof fenc? 
know of. ; 
Having fenced in your patch, break it up, harrow finely, and lay off pe 
rows 3% feet apart. Cut up the tubers, and plant about every 18 inches in 
drill, cover shallow, and cultivate as you would maize. They grow all summett 
and must be gathered late in the autumn. vie them up, and gather as J "i 
would Irish potatoes; but they are far easier to keep than any potato. Bu 
is a waste of time to gather them. Plough two or three furrows across 
rows with a double shovel, and turn in your pigs; they will gather what they 
want, and will laugh and grow fat while doing it. : PS 
When pigs are taken off of any root crop, I care not what—even peanuts 
they Sint be fed two or three weeks on grain. It will improve the bac®™ 
making the fat harder and firmer, and also improve the lard. Pigs may 10° 
this patch all winter, yet there will be seed enough to re-set it next year. ~ d 
When the pigs are taken off, plough the ground, harrow it down level, ae 
in the early spring there will spring up a bountiful crop of young plants. all 
all are left to grow, the ground will be overcrowded and the tubers will be 8™ 
and in a few years will be a mere patch of artichokes. When the plants at@ 
few inches high, plough them out into rows 33 feet apart; thin them out wit Ab 
hoe to astand, one stalk every 18 inches, and cultivate. If this course is pursU di 
the artichokes will always be good. The rooting of the pigs will be a splen® 
autumn ploughing for them, and opens up the ground. ‘Their droppings v3 
keep it well manured, and the incorporating in the soil its annual crop of We 
and leaves will keep the soil rich and in fine, loose condition. 
GRAZING PIGS. 
WHY THE SYSTEM SHOULD BE EXTENDED. ( 
The method of management of pigs in the New World—i.e., the Sta 
and Canada—is, from the information contained in their agricultural Pre? 
quite different to the general custom at home. It appears to differ ™® EA 
particularly in respect to the method of rearing pigs and feeding the rag 
There, the almost universal system is to graze pigs as we do our sheep * 
