Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1869 [PAGE 309]

EXTRACTED TEXT FROM PAGE:

295

k e p t till a year from the following January at less expense and trouble t h a n a September pig. While suckling the sows should have free access to grass, and should have a generous supply of tolerably rich slop, and if fed in a trough easy of access, the young porkers will soon learn to feed with her, with decided benefit to themselves and the mother. At eight weeks old they should be weaned, and if they have learned to eat with the mother, and are fed milk or dairy slop, with a generous supply of fine bran or coarse meal, they will not fall off, but will continue growing without interruption. A growing pig should never be fed corn to any a m o u n t ; it contains too much oil, and does not contain elements of growth. Light grain, bran and shorts, with a good supply of grass and succulent vegetables, should constitute their food. After weaning, a pig should never be made extremely fat, i t checks the growth and injures their thrift afterwards. Nor should they be permitted to become poor, a poor pig can never be made to attain the size or form it would have done had it never been stopped in its growth ; like a hill of corn, if it once becomes feeble and sickly, no after culture can atone for the injury done. A mangy pig is worthless, and should be consigned to the golgotha where the dead animals of the farm are deposited. Neat, cleanly and well sheltered accommodation should be provided for swine, especially during the season of growth. The hog has been much slandered in relation to his uncleanly habits. In some respects the hog is more cleanly than the cow or the horse, or most domestic animals. It is true, ' like the Elephant and other Pachyderms, he is fond of bathing, a cleanly habit, and it is more the fault of his keeper than his own that he wallows in m u d when better accommodations are not accessible. But if young pigs have to lie in a damp and dirty bed, their skin soon becomes encrusted with scurf, the ears and tail frequently drop off, and the growth is at once arrested. During t h e entire rearing, to the time of fattening, the animal should be k e p t in a sleek, healthy and growing condition. The natural instincts of every animal must be consulted and followed t o produce the best results when domesticated. The hog is impatient of both heat and cold; any unusual exertion d a r i n g the heat of summer, especially if in full flesh, will frequently cost him his life. Comfortable shade should always be provided, easy of access, such as will protect them from the noonday heat of the summer sun. Neglect of t h i s is inexcusable cruelty, and will be a serious drawback from the credit side of the pork account. Equally important is ample protection from the opposite extreme of t h e winter cold. Pigs dropped in the fall are unfit, with all the care that can or will be given by our common farm accommodati@ns, to pass uninjured t h e severity of the winter season. Early spring pigs will do much better, but a well covered, well protected, and well littered sty, where the pigs will not lie more than one deep, and where their owner will not have the nightmare from listening to their unearthly screams from suffering from the biting cold, is essential to successful pork raising. I do not believe that any good christian can say his prayers and sleep easily and quietly while the whole neighborhood is made vocal by the cries of his freezing pigs.