Harris on the Pig. Breeding, Rearing, Management, and Improvement

v^t M, *' '. '.^l^ii V !* |k • f' ^^:'T, HARRIS ON THE PIG. Breeding, Bearing, Management, AND ImproYement, JOSEPH HAEKIS, MOEETON FARM, EOCHESTEB, N. T. ILLUSTRATED. NEW AND ENLAR&ED EDITION. EEVISED BT THE AUTHOR. it h JUL 27] 883 J NEW YORK; OEANGE JUDD COMPANY, 751 BROADWAY. 1883. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1883, by the ORANGE JUDD COMPANY, In the OflSce of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. PREFACE. With reference to preparing a new edition of this book, I "wrote to some of the leading pig-breeders in the United States, asking their opinion on many points connected with the breeding and management of pigs. I thought of enriching these pages with their answers, and ia fact prepared the manuscripts for the printer, and forwarded them to the publishers, but it was foxind impossible to make room for them. I have read these letters with great interest. All the writers are agreed as to the importance of good care and good feeding in the management of pigs. The details vary somewhat, according to location and circumstances. Fortunately, a pig is not at all particular in regard to styles of architecture or methods of cooking. Good pigs often come from rude aiid inexpensive pig-pens, and regularity and good judgment in feeding are of more importance than the most varied and nicely adjusted scientific ration of albuminoids and carbo- hydrates. My correspondents are also unanimous in regard to the importance of using pure-bred male animals. They diflFer, as was to be expected, in regard to the relative merits of the different breeds, but not one of them considers a grade, cross- bred, or common boar of equal value to a pure-bred sire. On the other hand, many of them express the opinion that grade or good common sows, when bred to a pure-bred male, will produce better and healthier pigs than pure-bred sows. In other words, they think that when pigs are kept solely for the production of pork, it is not necessary or desirable to keep the breed pure. Quite as many, however, and probably more, of my correspondents are decidedly of the opinion that it is far more profitable, even when pigs are kept solely for pork, and with no reference to their sale at high prices for breeding pur- poses, to make use of the pure-bred sows. They would on no account introduce a cross of any kind. The Berkshire breeders would keep nothing but Berkshire boars and Berkshire sows ; the Poland-China breeders would keep nothing but Poland- (3) 4 HARRIS OK THE PIG. China boars and Poland-China sows ; and so of the Yorkshires and Essex, Whatever breed you select, they say, keep it pure. I shall not imdertake to reconcile this diffei'ence of opinion. One thing I am confident of : those breeders who keep the breed pure, and constantly weed out all inferior pigs, and breed only from the healthiest, best-bred, and best formed animals, will find a ready sale, at good prices, for all the good pigs they have to spare. As I said before, I know of no one who advo- cates using anything except a pure-bred boar, and the breeders of pure-bred pigs will need to be increased a hundred-fold before they can fumisli half the boars required to meet the necessities of the case. I have heard farmers say, when offered a pure-bred young boar for |15 or $20, "I will wait until tliey are cheaiDer." They will have to wait a long time. The general price of pure-bred animals is constantly on the rise. There may be fluctuations, but the general tendency is to higher prices. A good, pui'e-bred boar is worth far more than $25, and this should be considered a low j)rice for him. It is with great pleasure that I publish a letter from Prof. J. W. Sanborn, of the Missouri State Agricultural College, giving a brief account of his experiments in feeding pigs. These experiments confirm those of Dr. Miles, as given on page 118. Young animals eat more in proportion to live weight than older ones, and grow more rapidly in proportion to the food consumed. But it does not necessarily follow that it pays better to sell pigs at six months old than at twelve or sixteen months old. It depends on the cost and character of the food. A farmer who has more clover than he knows what to do with, can keep pigs through the svunmer at small cost, and when such pigs are shut up to fatten, they gain very rapidly. In one of Prof. Sanborn's experiments, pigs one year old, and weigh- ing, Oct. 13, 1882, about 160 lbs. each, weighed, Nov. 13, 1882, about 240 lbs. each. In other words, they gained 80 lbs. each during the month. The next month they gained far less, say from 45 to 60 lbs. each. The experiment occupied seventy-eight days in all, and during this time one jyen of four pigs ate 728J lbs. of com and cob meal each, and gained 114 lbs. each. An- other pen ate 716 lbs. of whole com each, and gained 148^ lbs. each. Another lot of four pigs, having the ran of a grass pasture, ate 762J lbs. of whole corn each, and gained 151 lbs. each. Another pen ate 799 lbs. of com meal each, and gained 159? lbs. each. Taking the three lots together, that had com and PREFACE. 5 com meal, five pounds of corn produced one pound of pork. With the corn and cob meal, it required over six pounds to produce a pound of pork. In the experiments of Lawes and Gilbert, as given on page 122, we have the same general result. It required five pounds of corn to make a pound of pork. With no other of our domestic animals can be obtained as much flesh and fat from a given amount of food as from a pig. But we ought not to be satis- fied with this amount. Five pounds of corn is capable of pro- ducing more than one pound of pig. We shall do better when we aim to breed pigs that will eat and digest more food, and which have at the same time so little offal and so quiet a dis- position, that a maximum amount of the digested food will be converted into flesh and fat. I hope our Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations will investigate this matter. I should like to see some experiments on grade and cross-bred pigs, as compared with pure-breds. I look to improved breeding, rather than to improved feeding, to give lis a better quality of pork. Both are requii-ed to obtain the best results. It has been thought that Indian corn alone is a defective pig- food. I do not think so. But if such is the case, it would be an easy matter to supply the deficiency by feeding a httle wheat bran or middlings, or by raising and feeding more man- gel wurzel and other roots, and by allowiag the pigs the range of a good pasture ia the smnmer. Pigs are no more subject to disease in America than else- where. In fact, taking numbers iuto consideration, our pigs are better fed and better cared for than in any other country, and are healthier, and in every respect better. We can easily understand why the English, German, and French farmers and butchers object to American pork ; but it will be our own fault if the consumers do not find our pig products equal or superior to those obtained from any other country. In regard to the diseases of pigs, I have nothing new to say. I have kept for many years a large herd of pure-bred pigs, averaging from forty to sixty breeding sows, but have never had any disease among them. When a pig is sick, it is not worth while to send for a doctor. If possible, remove him from the rest of the herd, and use disinfectants. We keep crude carbohc acid on hand at all times, and put half a pint in a pail of water, and sprinkle it about the pens, troughs, etc. ) 6 HARRIS ON THE PIG. We also put a pint of carbolic acid in a pail of whitewash, and whitewash the sides of the pens. Sometimes, when young pigs are not doing well, which is more apt to be the case in winter than at any other time, I have found great benefit from washing them in warm water, with enough carbohc acid in it sufficient to sting the tongue—say two tablespoonfuls of the crude acid to a gallon of water. You must be very careful to mix the acid thoroughly with the water. Should you accidentally give the pig too strong a dip, wash him immediately with fresh water, or rub him over with oil or grease. When pigs have the scoiu-s, the pens should be constantly disinfected by the free use of dry earth, with or without the addition of the carbolic acid and water, previously alluded to. In severe cases, I have used injections of carbolic acid and water, about strong enough to sting the tongue sHghtly, with very decided benefit. Sometimes we add a httle castor oil or raw linseed oil to the injection. It is not an easy matter to administer medicine to a pig by way of the mouth, but it is not difficult to give injections into the rectum.

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