Show THE T H E HOME 1 1 E COURSE C 0 U K S E IN I 1 N LIVESTOCK 11 1 P L STOCK FARMING AR III mi swine management by C V gregory author of home course in modem modern agriculture money in farming 1909 by american press association HERE are two general types of swine bacon and fat the principal fat bog hog breeds arc are poland china duroc jersey berkshire aud and chester white these breeds are especially adapted to the corn belt here cora corn Is be the principal feed and the fat hog bog in naturally ibe principal bacon breeds are tarn tam worth and yorkshire the hampshire la is intermediate between the two types the bacon hogs are better suited to thoe tho e localities where corn Is not grown to nn tin extent alk peas and pasture are among imong the principal crops used in raising bacon bogs IVIll whichever chever type Is selected an endeavor should by be made to get the best possible individuals of that type not only that but if you wish to succeed in the bog hog business you must pick out a certain bri bacul md anu stick to it the general practice of buying a boar of a differ different tnt breed every year or so Is bound to result in a lot of mongrels the first cross of pure bred animals often results in combining the good via FIG X TUR PAT FAT noo BOG qualities of both breeds but when these crossbred animals anro bred among themselves the good points rapidly dia appear and in to a few years only the bad ones are tire left fat hog type the fat bog should be low set wide and loy long ag the ribs should be well mell sprung to give width to the buck ba ck and loin and should extend well down the sides the biad should be short and wide with a short thick neck the i he shoulders should be well ell laid in at the top and there should be no depression inck bick of them A lack of heart girth Is a fault often found in he good hogs th tho D sides should be deep and fite from wrinkles both fore and hind flank should be well uell filled the tile hind quarters teri should be fairly long from the tile hips back and the hams well nell filled down to the hocks viewed from the side aide the b bick ick should be slightly arched swaybacks are very bad especially in brood sows bows the underline should be level vie ved from behind the hind quarters quarter s should be wide and full and the width of body even from one end to the other some bogs hogs have good width in front but narrow off badly behind the legs should bo be strong and the hog should stand up wall on bis his toes any weakness of the pasterns should cause a hoar hoz to be discriminated against for breeding purposes constitution aa as hhorn by deep wide chest and general vigor Is ner cry I 1 important quality of hair skin limbs and bead should also bo be looked for it if those who ore are in iha th business of dising a hoga for the marlet would take note of these easy means of identifying the prAl profitable table animal much disappointment would be avoided it matters not what the breed it Is necessary to r this discriminating process in each individual case in some aises breeders bree dors have bare gone to Cx triremes in producing show animals and have bred hogs that are tire compact chubby and rood good to look at but almost worthless for breeding purposes the breeding BOW sow to be profitable must be of good size rather lobely built and with a roomy middle ile piece the boar be vigorous and active A boar of this kind t that hat Is n little rangy 1 is to be preferred to one of the chubby type tint tivit la is sluggish and slow blow on his hn feet while compact ness and floe fine points point arc are doel ible the farmer cannot afford to obar obtain tin them at tho the expense of profitable ablo sized lit tors in the bacon type length and depth are sought lit for or especially without so much regnard to width larger lees legs and a longer and sharper face arc nl al lo wable and the hams are deep rither than full and wide one of the jie t gret est essen essentials tiaN of a bacon ho hog 9 Is nual iry ity the bone roust must be clean and not coarse the shoulders exceedingly corn com pact and the hide bide smooth and pliable handling breeding stock in selecting breeding stock besides giuin pai hig itt to the character of the their ancestors should nisi also if iv it Is very imbor tint vint elmr they come from prolific since much of tho the or loss in the bos box business depends on th the la 17 of the litters in case you yott are bogs 1 for sale aa as breeders bre odera it Is nece ary to select of strains that lire tire in demind dem ind it Is it general practice to breed on 8 in the fall NN lien they are about alg leht months old then as soon goon as the fiss arc are leaned enned the rong sows iro ire fattened and sold the in favor of C f this plan Is that it u the expense of keeping the sows throughout the th e summer if a good pasture Is 1 available homeier ho weier this expense will not amount to much tho the use of mature BOWS sows will bring in a profit that will much more than pay the cost of kepping keeping them throughout the summer in a number of experiments that have been conducted along this line it has been beon found that sows two years old or over at farrowing time produce nearly SO 00 per cent more pigs than yearling BOW sows the pigs from the two year old BOWS ere considerably larger at bith bi hl th and made 25 23 per cent faster gains afterward old sows are much less liable to trouble at farrowing time and they give a great deal more milk muk than young sows do another general practice is to use a seven or eight months old boar for breeding purposes this results in ja smaller litters and smaller and less vigorous pigs the boar should be at least a year old at time of service A boar that proves to be a satisfactory eire sire should be kept until his daughters reach breeding age if not longer if warm farrowing quarters can be provided ate late march or earl early v april Is the best time for the sows to farrow th the pigs arp are then in good shape to mabe make rapid gains on grass all an summer in in er where the climate Is cold or good accommodations for the sows cannot be provided it Is better to have hate the pigs come a little later the hoir should bo be kept in a pen by himself or with a few bred sows if he and sows are tire brought to him to be bred one service Is as good as bait half a dozen the sow should be taken away as soon as served and a record of the service made au aged vigo roia rolla boar may be allowed two sows a day whan ahn handled in this way A breeding C crate rate la Is an advantage unless the boar a and nd sow are about the same size when abo boar Is allowed to run w with ith the sows all the tile timo his strength Is wasted asted by worrying and repeated services and he 13 1 less sure the dated dates of breeding cannot be kept in this way so that when farrowing time comes there is 13 no means of knowing when to expect the pigs sows should no DO be fat at farrowing time ume bat but should be in good thrifty condition and should be kept sc throughout the winter plenty of ex e is also essential if vigorous pigs are to be produced when the pigs come early and old oid BOWS sows are used fall litters may often be raided at a R profit this Is specially 15 so off if plenty of milk can be bad had the cost co st of feed la Is greiter with tall fall litters be because cause of lack of 9 as there are also considerable e losh and lack of profitable gains lj uless 1049 good hjelter can be provided individual conditions together with a will nill determine whether or not f fill pigs can bo be profitably grosu for marker market when raised for breeding pu purposes foil fall pigs can always be bold sold at a good profet as yearlings yearnings year lings central dorsus colony system there arc are two general plans of ban adling hogs tin tile centralized system and the colony system aj stem the central ays tern consists of one large hog bouse house where nil all the hogs are kept both win ter nna and summer the colony system consists of a number of email small houses each with its pasture these small houses can be moved up close to the I 1 0 other buildings for conven leuce leace in winter the central system Is an advantage in winter as warmer quarters can cau be provided it Is also much more con to feed and handle hogs alen they are nil all together lo 10 this M manner the advantage 0 of the colony system Is I 1 that the hous bouses can be moved irow place to place wherever they an are nii ed there Is less liability of diset dawe e when the hogs are kept in small droves and disease can be more readily handled if it docs does break out the pigs can be sorted according to size and will do better than if they all run together this system also has the advantage of cheapness the main dis advantage Is that it N 1 a great deal more work to care fur for ho he hogs in scattered lots on most farms a combination of the two systems will be found desirable some individual houses will be needed to house the pigs when they are running on the different fields and for er pro FIG BACON noo tra tm farro farrowing xing pens at the same time a central house Is almost indispensable for the fattening bogs for the breed ing stock in winter and for the sows that farrow early A cement noor floor made according to directions ions given in article 2 will be most satisfactory for the central house it must be kept hept well nell bedded as the bare floor I 1 Is bird hird damp and cold some breeders use a false floor ot of boards on the sleeping pens the pen partitions should be removable so that several sev ral pens can be thrown r for fattening hogs bogs there should be enough windows 4 to supply plenty of light it if the hull dinc faces the south the roof should be of half monitor shape to furnish light to the north pens this 14 1 not necessary it the building runa runs north and south since there will th then en be an equal amount of light on each side the best style t of movable bouse house Is the A shape built in 4 by b V 4 arun runner A floor Is an advantage in wet weather |