278 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
March  29.  1900. 
improved  by  the  addition  of  any  rough  coarse  grass  that  the  children 
may  obtain  from  hedge  bottoms  or  roadsides. 
There  are  several  erroneous  ideas  respecting  a  pig’s  habit  and  bill 
of  fare.  He  has  the  character  of  thriving  in  dirt.  Well,  the  dirt  is 
not  his  fault;  it  is  to  his  credit  that  he  does  so  well  among  it,  but 
clean  him  and  make  h’m  comfortable  and  he  repays  you  at  once.  Too 
little  attention  is  often  paid.  him.  He  has  to  put  up  with  bad 
accommodation,  and  with  little  or  no  bedding.  His  abode  should  at 
least  be  weatherproof,  and  good  bedding  is  essential  to  his  comfort. 
He  has  no  thick  coat  of  wool  or  hair  to  keep  off  sun  or  cold,  and  he 
needs  protection  from  the  hot  glare  as  he  does  from  the  biting  frost. 
We  require  a  variety  in  our  food.  Let  it  be  ever  so  good  the 
same  dish  soon  palls ;  the  system  requires  a  change ;  the  blood  must 
be  purified,  and  it  is  one  of  the  greatest  of  mistakes  to  keep  the  pig 
on  hard  corn  or  concentrated  meal  all  the  year  round.  Potatoes  are 
a  great  stand-by,  and  they  make  a  most  excellent  food  steamed  and 
mixed  with  meal.  We  should  say  there  is  no  bacon  in  the  world  that 
beats  that  produced  from  barleymeal  and  Potatoes.  But  steaming 
should  not  be  confined  to  Potatoes.  If  there  be  plenty  of  Turnips 
and  Mangolds  to  spare,  they  make  excellent  cooked  food.  By  the 
way,  if  there  be  any  Mangolds  over  in  summer — that  is,  spared 
from  the  ewes  and  lambs — it  will  well  pay  to  give  them  to  the  pigs. 
Pigs  must  have  change  of  food,  and  it  is  the  greatest  mistake  to  feed 
them  so  much  on  hard  dry  corn.  Pigs  have  a  nasty  habit  of  rooting 
about  too  much,  therefore  it  is  almost  necessary  that  their  green  food 
be  brought  to  them  ;  and  as  soon  as  there  is  any  green  food  astir  on 
the  farm  the  pig  should  have  his  share.  Rye  will  come  in  firstj 
Clover  and  Tares  if  they  can  be  spared,  and  as  soon  as  a  harvest  field 
is  cleared  let  the  pigs  have  a  run,  with  a  day  lad  as  tenter. 
It  is  a  great  mistake  to  keep  young  pigs  too  long  about.  Small 
weights  of  good  quality  are  always  in  demand,  and  to  be  of  good 
quality  they  must  never  be  allowed  to  go  back.  If  the  sow  be  well 
fed  they  leave  her  in  prime  condition,  and  it  then  depends  on  the 
farmer  ^^hether  or  no  they  keep  that  condition.  “  Small  profits  and 
■quick  returns”  should  be  the  motto.  Of  course  some  have  to  be  kept 
to  supply  the  household  with  bacon,  and  a  farm  household  is  rather 
a  wfide  term,  as  in  many  places  the  master,  by  agreement,  supplies 
his  labourers  with  so  many  stones  of  bacon  per  annum ;  also  the 
foreman  requires  25  stone  or  thereabouts  jjer  annum  for  each  wagsoner 
he  boards.  It  would  not  pay,  of  course,  to  kill  for  them  prime  young 
porkers ;  strong  big  pigs  are  wanted,  say  from  25  to  30  stone  weight* 
But  the  money  to  be  easiest  made  will  come  from  those  porkers 
which  are  sold  fat  and  young. 
When  the  little  pigs  are  about  three  weeks  old  they  will  begin  to 
eat,  and  should  be  encouraged  so  to  do,  but  the  food  must  be  such 
as  they  can  manage  easily  without  detriment  to  their  teeth. 
Grains  of  soaked  maize  ought  to  be  scattered  about,  and  a  few 
Oats.  The  piglings  should  be  able  to  get  at  their  food  without 
interference  from  the  sow,  and  ought  to  be  provided  with  plenty  of 
slop  in  the  way  of  skimmed  milk,  or  failing  that  thin  barleymeal 
water.  Plenty  of  sunshine,  and  a  run  on  grass  if  possible,  and 
plenty  of  muscle  and  bone-forming  food.  Oats,  barleymeal,  and  Peas 
come  first  in  order  of  value.  Maizemeal  tends  too  much  towards 
fat,  and  fat  must  not  be  encouraged  at  the  expense  of  growth.  Bran 
sliould  not  be  given  till  the  pigs  are  at  least  three  months  old.  We 
put  much  stress  on  the  value  of  old  milk.  In  no  other  way  can 
milk  be  made  to  pay  so  well  as  in  the  insides  of  little  pigs.  In 
Denmark  this  has  been  proved  by  a  series  of  elaborate  experiments. 
It  stands  to  reason  that  in  feeding  sucking  pigs  well  two  ends  are 
gained.  The  pigs  are  always  on  the  upward  move,  developing 
quickly,  and  getting  out  of  the  way,  and  there  is  not  such  a  strain  on 
the  system  of  the  sow — the  better  her  condition  the  sooner  she  will 
be  fit  for  other  duties.  It  may  be  breeding  again,  or  it  may  be  the 
salting  tub,  at  any  rate  she  has  lost  no  time.  At  one  time  or  another 
we  have  heard  a  good  deal  of  pig  ailments,  and  our  only  surprise  is 
that  w'e  have  not  hea'^d  more.  The  matter  in  a  great  measure  is  in 
■our  own  hands;  the  remedy  lies  with  ourselves. 
We  go  back  to  the  first  point,  sanitation.  Unhealthy  dwellings 
make  unhealthy  inmates;  impure  water,  bad  food  always  work  out  to 
the  same  result,  and  we  are  beginning  now  to  see  that  it  is  little  use 
to  lock  the  door  when  the  horse  is  stolen.  Of  course  we  know  how 
difficult  it  is  to  keep  free  from  horrible  epidemics  like  swine  fever 
or  foot  and  mouth  disease.  Swine  fever  being  difficult  of  identifica¬ 
tion  in  the  early  stages,  may  get  a  hold  on  a  herd  before  the  owner  is 
really  aware  of  the  deadly  enemy.  We  have  a  great  objection  to  the 
purchase  of  pigs  from  unknown  sources  in  the  open  market ;  the  risks 
are  so  tremendous. 
Happily  of  late  years  we  have  been  Iree  from  “foot  and  mouth,” 
although  there  has  just  been  a  local  outbreak  in  Norfolk.  It  is  a 
catching  complaint,  and  is  easily  communicated  from  “  bos  ”  to  “  boar,” 
so  that  in  case  of  any  outbreak  among  the  horned  cattle  the  pigs 
should  be  at  once  isolated.  If  only  farmers  would  use  a  little  more 
lime,  either  on  the  floors  or  as  a  wall  wash,  and  a  few  simple  dis¬ 
infectants,  they  might  save  themselves  many  a  funeral,  and  many  a 
long  farrier’s  bill. 
Work  oij  the  Home  Farm. 
Except  for  a  heavy  snowstorm  on  one  afternoon  we  have  had  a  fine 
week.  The  snow  soon  melted  and  did  no  harm  ;  in  fact  on  land  which 
was  recently  worked  and  drying  quickly  it  did  good. 
Drilling  is  proceeding  rapidly  everywhere,  and  Barley  is  going  in 
fairly,  but  we  have  seen  no  March  dust  this  season,  and  the  land  is 
hardly  so  warm  as  it  should  be  ;  in  fact  we  want  more  sunshine.  These 
cloudy  skies  and  north-east  winds  are  as  bad  for  the  land  as  they  are 
for  the  live  stock.  If  the  old  rule  about  the  equinox  holds  good,  we  are 
to  have  a  cold,  dry  spring,  for  the  wind  was  in  the  north-east  at  that 
period.  At  present  everything  points  to  a  late  harvest. 
Lambing  will  soon  be  over.  We  have  heard  of  only  one  instance  of 
ill  fortune  this  season,  and  that  was  attributed  to  the  ewes  having  had 
too  many  Turnips.  There  must  have  been  great  want  of  discretion. 
There  has  generally  been  an  exceedingly  small  loss  of  ewes,  lambs 
have  been  fairly  plentiful,  and  though  not  big  and  strong  they  are 
healthy  and  doing  well. 
Keeping  is  very  scarce,  for  there  is  little  grass,  and  haystacks  are 
dwindliner  rapidly.  A  town  milkman  tells  us  that  he  has  never  had  so 
much  milk,  and  his  cows  have  never  had  a  root.  He  has  been  using 
cut  straw  and  hay  with  a  plentiful  supply  of  fresh  grains  and  bran 
mash.  He  usually  used  50  or  60  tons  of  Swedes ;  this  winter  he  has 
used  none,  and  has  sold  seven  cows  fat  at  £20  each.  This  shows  what 
necessity  can  do.  The  land  for  the  Thousand-headed  Kale  should  be 
nearly  ready,  as  the  seed  ought  to  be  sown  in  mid- April.  Manure  and 
till  as  for  Swedes,  and  drill  18  inches  apart ;  3  lbs.  per  acre,  or  a  little 
less  if  it  can  be  got  on  regularly,  will  do.  The  seed  is  scarce  and  dear, 
new  seed  being  2s.  per  lb.,  and  new  is  always  the  cheaper  in  the  end. 
Draught  mares  are  beginning  to  foal.  Early  foals  may  be  desirable 
for  people  who  exhibit,  but  April  is  quite  early  enough  for  a  farmer 
to  have  the  troubles  of  foaling  and  foals.  Considering  the  great  risk 
which  mares  incur  in  foaling  it  is  wise  policy  to  have  both  mare  and 
foal  insured.  Even  then  there  is  great  anxiety  until  mother  and  foal 
are  safely  out  at  grass.  As  foaling  time  draws  near  it  is  most  neces¬ 
sary  that  the  mare  should  not  be  left.  Delivery  often  occurs  very 
rapidly,  and  in  five  minutes  the  foal  may  be  born  and  smothered  for 
lack  of  a  helping  hand  to  free  the  nostrils.  For  this  reason  a  man 
awake  and  on  the  alert  should  be  within  hearing  distance  of  every 
movement.  Assistance  should  also  be  within  easy  reach,  so  that  it 
may  not  be  necessary  to  leave  for  more  than  a  minute  or  two. 
- — - - 
The  Horse  Trade  in  Americi. — The  number  of  horses  sold  at 
Chicago  stcck-yards  last  year  was  111,611  as  against  118,754  in  1898, 
which  was  the  highest  year’s  record  since  the  commencement  of  the 
tabulated  returns  in  1865,  when  the  total  number  received  in  the 
stock-yards  was  but  1563,  a  striking  contrast  to  the  numbers  given 
for  the  past  and  previous  years.  A  report  from  the  large  centre 
under  the  date  of  January  3lst  says  that  owing  to  the  South  African 
War  having  requisitioned  so  many  ships  for  transport  purposes  that  the 
Chicago  dealers  have  been  unable  to  secure  sufficient  accommodation 
for  the  horses  purchased,  and  it  is  anticipated  that  until  the  release 
of  the  transports  this  difficulty  will  continue  to  exist,  and  must  to 
some  considerable  extent  affect  the  trade,  whilst  the  high  rates  of 
freights  will  also  become  a  factor  in  connection  with  this  section  of 
the  trade.  Looking  at  the  prospects  of  the  horse  breeding  industry 
in  a  general  way  throughout  both  the  States  and  Canada,  there  are 
strong  indications  of  a  revival  of  the  demand  for  imported  stallions, 
more  particularly  of  the  heavy  draught  type,  for  it  is  becoming  more 
and  more  evident  that  for  this  class  of  horses  the  demand  is  better 
and  1  he  prices  higher  than  those  realised  for  ’bus,  cab,  or  light  van  horses. 
The  Percheron  is  very  popular  in  some  districts,  and  there  is  a  very 
good'  demand  for  this  class  of  horse.  At  a  recent  sale  of  a  stud  of 
this  breed  thirty-six  head  averaged  just  under  £80  all  round. — 
(“  Farmer  and  Stqgk-breeder.”) 
