VOL. xxxn. [% n
INDIANAPOLI& IND., MARCH 13. 1897.
NO. 11
EXPERIENCE DEPART!
BOO RAISING.--No. 2.
Choice of Stock not Choice of Breeds,
But Appearance of Individual ParentB.
Treatment of Both Before, and of Sow
During Pregnancy and Farrowing.
1st Premium —It has been our aim in
seleoling parent ho-;s, where we have
that privilege, to select a sow having
three special qualities; proliflcness, good
as a suckler, and of good disposition. To
have these qualities she should be rather
on the rough order. I believe that many
of our fine hog raisers have been breeding
too fine, or in other words, selecting the
beauties. Neither do they have as many
or as large pigs, and they are a great deal
more apt to have trouble when farrowing.
The sow should be long, especially under
the belly, with from 10 to 13 teats; not too
short in the neck, nor too short nosed,
both should be medium. If the nose is
too short and thick they are more apt to
show a bulldogish disposition. The ears
should be thin, not so lappy as to shade
the eyes. Once in buying I had the privilege of choosing one of two young sows
for breeding. One was a perfect beauty;
the other not near so nice, but deep up
and down. I choose the latter, whieh
made as fine a brood sow, I think, as I
ever owned. The other died farrowing.
As for the male I prefer him rather on
the fine order, not particularly in the
bone; but in the general makeup. As for
feed, be very careful not to feed too much
corn at any time, except when finishing
for market. We have seven voung sows
this winter, three full blood Polands, the
others are grades. We feed equal parts
of bran and shorts, mixed to a slop, by
pouring boiling water over it and stirring so that all will be scalded, cooling
and thinning with milk or dish water if
we have it; if not we use cold water. This
Is mixed fresh every time we feed, twice
dally, what we think they need, together
with two ears of corn to the hog. From
one to two weeks before farrowing we
put each in a house made purposely, with
small lot or field where they can exercise
We give them nice straw or shredded fodder, on corn cobs, on a floor just laid on
the ground. Never put straw on damp
ground. H. S.
2d Premium. As a beginning, go to
some reliable breeder and select a herd
of even, well developed sows, and have
an honest man's word for it that they are
from mothers noted for large litters, good
sticklers and uniformity of breeding
qualities. Select a male that is of sufficient age to transmit vigor and vitality
and strong in the points in which your
sows are weak. To get this, it is best to
get your boar out of a different herd from
that from which your sows were selected.
iour herd once rightly started,study
their good and bad points carefully, and
year after year discard all that do not
prove themselves prolific breeders of
good uniform litters. Also, keep no bow
that does not prove a quiet mother and a
good suckler. Retain your herd at the
desired number by adding, year by year,
gilts from your choicest sows. This is
Jar better than buying your brood sows
here and there, never having any particular type of hog. Each year buy a good
ujoroughbred boar, and buy him with a
«ew of strengthening points of weakness in your own herd. Tnis plan, closely
loiiowed, will prove economical and most
desirable. At the time of coupling both
male and female should be in good condition, but not fat They should have
"aa plenty of evercise, a grass run, if in
season, and if not, they should have some
rotables. During pregnancy the sow
snouid not have too much corn, plenty of
exercise, and in season, the run of a
rt!«ve,r neld* If (trass is not to be had the
uettciency should be supplied by wheat
,'*ni artichokes, or other roots. At farrowing time, she should have a  good
warm bed, with clean dry straw and be
left alone.   Nature created her to farrow
in secret, and the presence of an attendant usually does more harm than good.
Henry Co. W. W. Pbigq.
3d Premium.—It is supposed first that
we have one of those good hog-houses described by our neighbors, in their recent
articles, or at least we ought to have, if
we expect to make a success of raising
pigs especially in the winter. Then we
must have a good sow and have her in
good flesh to do well.
A few days before farrowing put her up
in your pen and make her a good bed, so
that she will get accustomed to the surroundings. Feed her on light foods, such
as wheat screenings,bran,middlings,slops,
etc., and by all means have water or slop
handy when she  farrows, that she maj
ways thoroughbred) and good size. One
farmer helped me pick out a few sows,
two or three years ago, and he said "Now
Collins, that pretty little black sow, all
tucked up, she ain't worth nothing. Bhe
She ain't long enough, ain't no room for
lots of pigs or for big pigs." He pointed
to a rangy, deep sow and said "she's
worth a dozen of them little things." I
bought both of them and he was right.
The small boned sow brought four to six
and the rangy sow seldom gave me less
than 10 to 13 pigs.
If our stock could all take on prison
stripes when they fall below a good business standard, both in number, size and
quality we would "learn somethin."
I ride "old Sam" by farms with straggly strings of pigs, from peaked runts up
to two or three good ones, in each small
litter.   Occasionally I run by a farm with
OUB PREMIUM ORGAN  FROM THE FIRM OF   _. WULSCHNER S SON,   CITY, TO   BE GIVEN
AWAY AS A PREMIUM, APRIL, 1897.
have a drink. This one thing may save
vour litter of pigs, as a sow at that time
is feverish, thirsty, more or less excitable, and in the absence of something to
eat or drink,will often take up a pig,which
constitutes a tempting morsel to allay the
thirst or hunger, and if one goes they
nearly always all go. Continue to feed
on light foods for two or three days.
Then gradually add corn or oil-cake
meal, or both to the rations, and a little
of any of the stock foods, such as International, Pratt's or Parker's. Give her all
she will eat until pigs are weaned.
Gibson Co. C. Y.
Hog raising for profit depends on early
maturity. The animal from birth to finish must make a thrifty growth. To
maintain a steady growth is important.
Also an item to be considered is economical feeding; but there is no economy in
restricting the ration. Oreat care should
be taken in selecting breeding stock.
Both the dam and sire should denote
thrift. Brood sows, both before and after
farrowing, should be fed on nourishing
food, such as ground oats, bran and ship-
stuff. For spring litters have them farrow the last of March or flrst of April.
Prepare warm quarters; this does not require expensive buildings. Such can be
made of cheap lumber. If lumber is not
convenient prepare a shelter of straw and
fodder. J.
REVIEW.
Having just read carefully our copy
for thia week and Mr. Hart's "Hog raising, No. 2," I sat and soratched my head
and said: "Well,what is the chief mistake
we farmers are making?"
- As I think over the successful farmers
about here, there is not one who makes
lots of money out of hogs that is not awful careful to secure high blood (not »I-
a smooth, uniform lot of hogs.
Suppose two such farmers were to trade
herds when four months old. Well
wouldn't No. 1 wake up? We all know
that No. 2 would greatly improve his
scrappy herd, but he could never make
them even in sight of the possibilities of
his own herd. Mr. Hart told me he
would think of taking even a choice sow
from a common feed lot of a farmer, at
farrowing time, to try to make show pigs
of her litter" Don't that mean something to us?
He said he could take new born pigs
for the same good sow, where she had
been pushed while carrying them, so that
they came big and "sassy," to start with,
and not so many would be over laid, because they had life and strength enough
to get away, and at 20 days he would have
them weigh about twice as many pounds
as those from the same sow when not
crowded during pregnancy.
Mr. H. is criticized "like sixty" for
making his sows "fat enough for market,"
"before farrowing. Mr. H. says "with
such feed" corn will fill her up with leaf
fat, while his "slop" feed will make marbled meat. It will also give size and
strength of bone and muscle in both
mother and pigs. The only way you can
feed the pig before birth is by feeding
the sow, and a balanced ration will make
strong and large pigs.
I seldom sell hogs too coarse any more.
My brother had a bunch of bandbox
hogs a few years ago that he couldn't get
up to more than 100 pounds, jammed up
inside with corn lard, till their stomachs
would hold about two quarts of slop.
Didn't Mr. Hart say that his big sows
would drink from four to six gallons at
one time? They laughed at him at the institute, but he invited them to come and
see. A common wooden bucket holds
about two and a half gallons.
Lack of capacity ln size of bone and vital organs is one of our most common
mistakes. Last spring we were writing
in this department about one man tending 25 acres of corn and a good friend in
Iowa wrote me that he planted with a
"Lister" and tended £0 acres by himself.
It snatched my breath away.
Two years ago I found a pocket account
book in the pike. It had running accounts like this: April 2d, took 26 eggs
to store, came to 2G cents; bought one
pound nails, four cents; assafoetida, three
cents; matches two cents; tobacco five
cents, and sugar 10 cents. The store owes
me two cents.
That man may be honest, but he'll be
forever poor if he lives a thousand years.
The capacity of every move he makes is
so small.
Opportunities are passing by for making money; some penny chances, some
$1 chances, some $100 or $1000 chanoes remain. It costs about as much trouble
and feed to oarry a bunchy line of stock
as a rangy line. To raise a five pig litter
weakly, and with two runts, as an. eight
pig litter of big square fellows. Our stock
need more capacity, bone, muscle, vital
organs. Mrs. Virginia C. Meredith once
said that the difference between well-
bred stock and scrub stock lies in the
power of assimilation. As I came by
Cambridge city last summer, on my
wheel, I called on Mrs. Meredith and
after enjoying a good visit,'she had some
of her cattle brought around to show me,
and among other gocd points I couldn't
help thinking of her statement at Lafayette, thatthe question is one of assimilation. But on seeing the well-sprung ribs,
tbe wide flanks, the deep chest, I was Impressed with that equally important
characteristic, capacity.
We are glad people don't think as muoh
of their hogs and fence posts and things
as of their sweet little daughters and similar topics; but we may state that the
flood of copy has greatly subsided and
our coming topics are hardly full enough.
ft should also be remembered in connection with the appreciative remarks in
late numbers, relative to this department
that the soul of the department is in this
good, original copy which our subscribers
have cheerfullly furnished. The writer
has often thought that a medium of exchange of our overflow thoughts, arising
from the rich home life of our American
citizenship, would be a feast of good
things, and that while "blessing others
we might ourselves be blessed."
Will our writers accept thanks and tokens of appreciation, whether your copy
can be published or not, for helping us
out so nicely in the long winter months.
And please remember that the busy six
months now beginning will require special effort, if we keep our department up
to the standard now set,during the weeks
to come.
No, 54, March 20. Hog raising No. 3.
Care and feed of sow and pigs after farrowing. Also exercise. What should
pies weigh at 60 days; at 270 days?
No. 55, March 27. Hog cholera and
other fatal diseases. The sanitation of
hog raising.
No. 56, April 0. Fertilizers. Where can
commercial fertilizers be economically
used and how?
No. 57, April 10. The best fence post and
how to preserve it.
No. 58, April 17. Best material for roofing. Experience in painting roofs. Material.
No. 59, April 24. Renovating an old orchard.
No. 60, May 1. Mistakes and failures of
recent years.
In writing don't fail to note new points
not generally known; also other points
of real experience. Address all copy 10
days before publication.
Let our subscribers write their experience. The purpose of the department is
not exaustive articles but brief, pithy,
E radical experiences.   A sort of heart to
eart talk, suoh  as  you  enjoy  with  a
neighbor.
Bead our excellent artioles on this subject. We were favored with some 30 letters. Those we are able to publish contain most of the points made. Address all
copy to E. H. Collins.
Carmel.
Appreciates the Farmer.
Ed-Toe* _ndi_.>_. riuai:
Indeed, I appreciate the Weekly visits of
the Farmer, Among like publications I
regard it as the equalof any in praotical
Information for the busy, wide-awake,
up-to-date farmer, and" especially well-
adapted to those living in the central
West. D. B. Hostetter.
Boachdale.
Bone, feathers and shells contain and
demand phosphates, therefore lime
should be a factor in feeding. To this
end broken oyster shell is valuable and
easily got, usually.