AFTERNOON SESSION. The Institute met at 1:30 p. m. Conductor GEO. WYLIE in the Chair. SWINE BREEDING. H. P. WEST, Sec'y Wisconsin Swine Breeders' Association, Fayetteville, Wis. H. P. West. The last census reports the highest value on swine of any of our domestic animals, amounting in the aggregate to $62,876,000.00. If this is true, then the swine on our farms are entitled to and should have as much intelligent care and provision made for them as the horse, cow or sheep. If I can give a few thoughts along the line of breeding and feeding swine that may be of help to those who have given the subject but little or no attention I shall feel repaid for my effort. No one should embark in the breeding or feeding of swine unless he feels himself adapted to the business and will treat them with the same care and intelligence as he does other animals on the farm. In the discussion of such an old and familiar topic, much old ground has to be worked over, yet it is soil which can be ploughed deeper each time, for it is a matter which should be fresh in the minds of those having the care of brood sows, especially at this season of the year. The success of the herd and the success of the breeder all depend on his knowledge of this subject. Selection of Sows. A good start is half the battle. A good start in pig raising means a bunch of good, healthy Sows from families noted for large litters. In the selection of these Sows, choose whatever breed your fancy may dictate. I should prefer mature animals. Look well to constitutional vigor; they should have good length of body, broad backs, deep sides, not too short legged; twelve good developed teats; broad between the eyes, this denotes hog intelligence, and such a one will generally be of good disposition and this you should cultivate at all times. The Sire. Always breed from a pure-bred sire, of good constitutional vigor, which should be greater an that of the sow. He should be a rapid grower and a good feeder. Keep him separate from the herd and give him plenty of yard room for exercise. I do not advocate paying these inflated public sale prices for a boar on his pedigree, unless you are in the "sale ring," as the saying is. Pedi grees are all right and good hogs have good pedigrees, but do not make the pedigree superior to the hog. High prices, when they run into the thousands for these sires, have a tendency to discourage the farmer and feeder, but they stimulate the breeder to bet- helps to form a balanced ration to a certain extent. Balanced Ration. I believe in a balanced ration for a pig as well as a cow. At the present time I give the brood SOWS for a morning meal succotash (wheat and oats) scattered on a floor or the ground, so they can not get it too learned the value of pure-bred animals fast, but must eat slowly and work whose types and excellencies follow in for their breakfast. At noon they the offspring, and they are willing to get middlings and milk as a thin slop. pay good prices for choice breeding At night I feed about four or five ears stock. Don't buy an over-fed, exces- of corn to each animal. Give plenty sively fat boar pig for service in your of water. herd. If you do you will be disappointed in the next crop of pigs, as a rule. Care of the Brood Sows and Litters. Having selected the boar, his health and comfort should be looked after the entire year. Hogs are commanding a fair price at the present time and the outlook for better prices as the days lengthen seems good. This will stimulate the farmer to give the brood sows and litters more careful atten tion, for on this largely depends the profit or loss in swine farming. I treat my brood SOWS at the present time about as follows: Keep the old sows and gilts separate, as the gilts require more and better feed as they have more growth to make. It is not necessary to have an expensive or stylish hog-house, but provide comfortable places for them to sleep, bed liberally with marsh hay, wheat or rye straw, do not use oat straw. Keep salt and ashes (mixed) and in a box where the hogs can have access to it. I sometimes mix a little cop peras with the ashes or dissolve it in salt and water and pour over the cob charcoal I make. This, with an occasional feed of kerosene, helps to destroy intestinal worms which cause so much trouble in pigs. The charcoal and ashes help build up the system, as they form an element in the growth and strength of the bones. This feed I do not think best to give brood sows much corn. I know it is an easy way to make hogs look nice, but if you are practicing this and your sows are not getting plenty of exercise, the pigs to raise and a disappointment to you. will be puny, little fellows and difficu on the other hand, if you are feeding the sows all milk and middlings and no corn, the pigs will likely be very large at farrowing time and you will have trouble in that way. The necessary requirements for best results are a variety of feed and plenty of exercise. Care at Farrowing Time. Two or three weeks before farrowing get the sows in pens by themselves where you wish them to farrow, that they may get acquainted and feel at home. During these two or three weeks give a little oil meal and roots. Be on hand when the sow farrows and if damp and cold weather provide some artificial heat. Don't molest the sow at this time unless necessary. Soon after farrowing give her a driuk of warm water, with a little bran or oil' meal in it, then let her alone for at least twenty-four hours. I feed gently for a week or ten days, after which feed all she will eat three times a day, of such foods as will produce milk and a good growth in the pigs. At this season of the year comes a critical period in the pigs' life, they need exercise and must have it, or you will find they are getting too fat and will soon have the thumps. Exercise is the antidote for thumps. Pig Pasture. Provide a shallow trough with oat meal, soaked corn and a little milk, assoon as the pigs are inclined to run around the pen. Put it where the pigs can have access to it and the sow cannot. Get the sow and pigs in clover pasture as soon as you can. Do not wean the pigs. If they are properly fed they will wean themselves at eight or ten weeks old. Turn all the grass and green feed you can into pork. It is cheap feed. It does not rob the farm of anything; you are selling your grass at a good price and it benefits the health of the hog. Swine breeders who have no clover or fall rye pasture to turn their pigs into this spring are studying the problem of some early pasture; something that will afford green feed earlier than usual. Ι I think nothing can be grown quicker and turned into sooner for green feed than barley. It should not be sown until danger of frost is over. It does not stand as much tramping by stock as rye. I consider rye, rape, peas and oats, sown by themselves in strips through the field, the ideal pig pasture, if you don't have clover. try to have my lots so arranged that they contain from one to three acres each. This year lot No. 1 contains about one-half acre; one-third of this was sown March 14th to rape and onethird to rye, the balance of the piece will be sown to oats and peas as soon as the ground can be plowed. At the same time I am to sow lot No. 2 to rape, rye, oats and peas. About the time of planting corn, sow lot No. 3 to sorghum, rape, rye, oats and peas. Rotate the pasturing of these lots. don't forget that you must feed some grain with pasture to get best results.. Too Much Corn Fed in Wisconsin. We, here in Wisconsin, feed more corn to brood sows and growing pigs than we ought. Our hogs, like those of the corn belt, have more fat and less lean meat than is profitable for market or home consumption. Corn is an ideal Wisconsin feed and a comparatively cheap one, so we are going to keep on feeding corn, but let us feed some other feed that does not produce the fat that corn does. Peas or wheat middlings produce muscle, or lean meat. I like corn and feed a good deal of it, but I feed something else to make them eat more corn. The best lot of pigs I ever raised was fed on corn meal with some oil meal, wheat middlings, whey, and all the ear corn they would eat. Outlook Good for Prosperous Season. Everything seems to point to a successful year for breeders of pure-bred animals. All kinds of business are branching out. Laboring men receive good wages and are, therefore, in condition to be buyers of meat; the stock on hand is not large, and the demand is active at good prices. The only thing necessary for a prosperous season in the swine business is intelligent care and watchfulness, and a good crop of corn. If you have never tried these com- Mr. West-Well, not the only objecbinations for green pasture for your tion. It hurts the breathing or lungs swine, I think you will be pleased with of the pigs. It is the smut in the oat It is a great grain saver. But straw. Wheat straw does not do this ic. Mr. West-Yes. as a usual thing. Oat straw packs tool mothers in addition at that time? Mr. Wylie-At the present price of corn, is it advisable to grind the feed for hogs? Mr. West-Yes, I think it is. Mr. Anchetel-What do you expect to get out of rape sowed the 14th of March? Mr. West-If you will remember, last Thursday was a nice day and 1 thought I would experiment a little. I am inclined to do that. I went out to my hog pasture, plowed last fall, and I sowed rape on one strip, one side, and then I sowed some rye. I don't know how it will come out. Mr. Wylie-You had harrowed it. right. Mr. Stiles-Don't you have to shut up the mothers or feed scant ration? Mr. West-Yes, that is one of the secrets,-keep the mothers on a decreased ration. Mr. Stiles-What grain should spring pigs make as a general thing? Mr. West-Last summer, the first of July, I thought I would experiment a litue with some pigs. They were four months old. I put those pigs in a pen by themselves and fed them about all that I thought was good for them to eat of a variety of feed; the principal feed was middlings and milk. At four months those pigs weighed ninety-four pounds, and that is not a large weight for that age. At five months those pigs weighed one hundred and sixtythree pounds, and at six months they weighed two hundred and fifty-four. The gain from the fourth to fifth months was sixty-nine pounds for each pig and the gain from the fifth to the sixth month was ninety-one each. Question-You must have fed corn the whole six months? Mr. West-No, sir. At the start, for the first month, I fed for the purpose of putting the pigs in condition to take on the fat at the last. I fed more corn during the last month. Mr. Stiles-What did that pork cost you? Do you know? Mr. West-No, I cannot tell. I fed without weighing my feed. Mr. Hill-What breeds periment on? did you ex corn with milk and middlings for a keep the lard hog. The men with perfect feed? bacon hogs sell them under price because they are not uniform with their neighbor's hogs. Mr. West-Yes. You get in the corn the fat producer, in the milk and middlings the lean meat. Mr. Potter-Would you feed corn in the whole state or grind it for the best results? Question-Is it not a fact that the lard hog is bringing the premium price now? Mr. West-I am not able to answer Mr. West-I would grind the corn that intelligently. for the best results. Mr. Wylie-Regardless of expense? Mr. Potter-Would you feed it raw or cooked? Mr. West At the present price of corn I would say to grind it, but in ordinary years when we can buy corn and raise it for twenty-five cents a bushel, feed it whole, soak it. Mr. Potter-Do you raise one or two litters a year? Mr. West-I calculate to raise one litter, but with some of the older sows I raise two. Mr. Hill-Do you think it pays to keep young pigs over the winter for another year's feeding? Mr. West-No, sir. But if you have them, keep them. mean, Mr. Everett-What do you winter-spring pigs or winter-fall pigs? Mr. Wylie-I understand he means the fall pigs. Mr. Hill-You would keep fall pigs at the price corn is now? Mr. West-Yes, if I have them. That is the question. Feed is very high and the price of pork does not correspond with the price of corn. We should sell pork at $10.00 a hundred to correspond with the price of corn. Mr. Scott-It would pay to keep fall pigs if you had feed that would otherwise go to waste? Mr. West-Yes. Mr. Webber-Speaking of lean and fat hogs,-where does the difference come in? Is there any difference? Mr. West-Our Canadian friends tell us there is. Our buyers in Chicago say if they can get a carload or a trainload of bacon hogs they are willing to pay an advance in price. But they cannot get them. One farmer keeps a bacon type of hog and the rest Mr. Everett-Is it not a fact, Mr. West, that the lard hog will pay the best in the corn belt of the United States? Mr. West-Yes. Mr. Wylie-Just at present is it not a fact that they are discriminating aganst the light hog because they are running so many on the market? They have been getting too many light hogs, thin hogs. They could not make any use of them. Mr. Anchetel-What is the general method of feeding hogs from birth to four months old? Mr. West-As I told you, I provide a trough in a pen adjoining where I keep the sow with her litter. I keep this trough where the sow cannot get at it It will not be long and the pigs can. before the little fellows will feel around and find this trough with a oat meal, or damp morsel of corn, a little milk. When they once get a taste of it they go at it. Then feed those pigs all they will eat, I do not care if it is corn for The mother's milk a little while. will furnish the bone-making material and the lean meat sustances. If they are on grass do not forget the corn, -a little corn,-and your pigs will grow. Feed your sow, and when the pigs are four months old they should weigh more than mine did. meal of some kind and Mr. Anchetel-Did you pen the pigs up or let them run? Mr. West-I let them run. Mr. Wylie-Do you ever pen pigs up? Mr. West-Yes. Mr. Wylie-What for? Mr. West-To feed them for the fair. |