THE PIGGERY.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1189, 14 December 1894, Page 5

THE PIGGERY.

THE Pie. THE WHITE YORKSHIRE BREED. I come now to a breed that made me take more interest in pigs than I had previously done—that is the white Yorkshire. They are a real good thtiving pig, and pay well for the food given to them, but, like the Chinese breed, accumulate too much fat, and of a large size. You see few of them now brought to Melbourne market. I crossed the white Yorkshire sow with a Berkshire boar; the result was a very good, large-size, well made pig, suitable for any farmer to keep for his own use. I found the white pigs required a deal of care. If allowed to run out in the sun they scalded and cracked on the back, and were so so’ e they would hardly move. But as a rule they are quiet and contented. They farrow 10 to 12 at a litter, and

are good mothers. At the present date, I think we have in West Bourke and surrounding district as good a class of pigs as are in the colony, and they are the Berkshires. THE BERKSHIRES. The Berkshire is a good all-round pig; at three months old, if well fed, they make good porkers, 501 b to 601 b ; at six months good baconers, abort 1301 b to 1501 b weight, and at those weights will bring the best price to be had in Melbourne market; they are good breeders, having from 8 to 12 at a litter. THE BROOD SOW. A sow farrowing 10 pigs requires to be well fed, and will consume two large buckets, or 501 b or 601 b of skim milk, with 101 b of pollard and boiled peas mixed per day. The better you feed her the better the young pigs. It is very essential that the food of the sow should be well prepared, to render it suitable for the young pigs. At about 14 days old, if supplied with sloppy food and a low trough, they will begin

O * J " - —G t) feed with their mother. It must be plain to everyone a sow must be a wonderful milker, and would stand a good show against some of our best cows. Sow's milk is the richest of that from any farm animal, containing 17 to 18 per cent, of solids. It not only contains double the solids of skim milk from the cow, but 5£ times as much as separated milk. The mineral matter will be one-sixtli to one-fifth greater, lienee the urgency of full supplies of cut fodder and grain to supply the phosphoric acid and lime required. A young sow, when properly fed, provides in her milk a larger amount of dry matter for the growth of her young than a dairy cow three times her weight.

THE YOUNG PIG. Profefsor Manly Miles found by experiment that Essex pigs consumed 3£lb of milk each per day the first week, or double that amount the second week. A Jitter of 10 pigs would therefore consume about 6J gallons

drawn from the sow per day. At tl at rate it would require the milk of two ordinary cows for their support the second week, if the demands of their growth were properly supplied. Such facts claim from pigbreeders great attention and ’careful observation, to enable them to satisfy the requirements of the sow suckling a large litter. No wonder the less observing men fail to rear large litters, when in too many cases they are unable to comprehend the power of early growth in young pigs. There is no greater test of knowledge and sound judgment in the farmer thau ability to understand and provide for the young ! plants and animals during this most critical period of early infancy. A great secret of success is centred here,< and no amount of food supplied during later growth will compensate for what is lost in the first three weeks. : •>

FEEDING. ' lam a great advocate of feeding pigs on maugels. For young pigs wash and boil them, and when rpixed with pollard or bran, they do well on them. If skim milk is not to be had, raw mangels; young pigs do not do so well on. account of their small teeth and tender gums. I am feeding a sow in a sty on mangels and water. She consumes 12 mangels per day, 61b each, or 721 b, has had nothing more, and is in a half-fat condition, which shows that one quarter acre, at the low estimate of 4 tons, will feed a pig for about 18 weeks, getting nothing else. Touching on feeding, there are few who know the value of linseed meal as a feed for swine, especially when pigs cannot get grass. Linseed meal, mixed with other feed, keeps the bowels open, thereby promoting health and rendering disease less liable. Boussingault, the distinguished agricultural chemist, estimates the nutriment of lOOlb of linseed meal is equal to 3001 b of oats or 7671 b of wheat bran, or say 38 bushels 71b.

FARROWING. A sow when near farrowing should bo put into a sty with a small quantity of short straw and a board or sapling nailed about 9in high and a foot wide at the bottom, so that the young pigs, when their mother is lying down, can go round her without being smothered or perished with cold. When dead in nine cases out of ten the sow will eat them, which teaches her a bad habit. I find a bent piece of wire or a hooked stick a simple way to remove the dead

pigs without disturbing the mother, as she is inclined during the time of farrowing to be vicious, and will lie down quickly and not heed the cries of her young, and perhaps smother one or Iwo more. Sows require a little coaxing to give their milk. The little pigs make a loud noise and rub the udder with

their nose, to induce her to lie do>vn. ■ Lying down on her side, every pig takes its own place, and nuzzles at the udder with the teat in its mouth. After a good while of this sort of preparation the milk begins to flow, and the sow gives a sleepy grunt, during which the milk is drawn quietly by the pigs until satisfied, and frequently they fall asleep with the teat in their mouth*; each one always takes its own teat in sucking, and the pigs supported by the foremost teats are generally the strongest. Male pigs should be castrated at about 14 or 21 days old. During the operation some people say squeeze their mouths to stop their squealing. By doing so you stop their breath ; they strain, and often burst, the thin web between tho entrails and testiclo. When that occurs I have found it best to roast and have them for dinner. A sow having five litters of 10 pigs in a little over two years deserves to be well cared for, as the pr c 5 a short time back of 10s per head leaves the farmer L 25 in about two years, at the same time clearing up a deal of feed going to waste on the farm.

THE POINTS OF A BERKSHIRE. A Berkshire pig, in my opinion, should be as square as a brick, colour black, white on face, feet, and tip of tail. You will often find a splash of white on shoulder. I do not like to

see any white or sandy spots on their body, although from some of the pure breed, and the twice champion hog of Victoria, Tasker, I had an occasional one with a white ear ; and their progeny showed a number of white ears, showing that like begets like. The face should be short, fine, and well dished, forehead broad, ears almost erect (small, thin, and soft), good full cheeks, neck short and thick, shoulder short from neck and deep from back, straight back, ribs long and well sprung (giving width and Jevelness 0£ loin), good length of hip to rump, liam Q

thick and round down to hoclc, tail fine and small, set on high up; legs short and fine and straight, and set well apart; hair fine and soft, and no coarse bristles on back. Having no studbook of swine in Victoria, we have no way of tracing a true pedigree of a pig. Every man can make his own, and no check can be made. I have seen pedigrees given at shows, and not a drop of blood as stated in the animal. DENTITION. At agricultural shows there is a deal of dissatisfaction in regard to the class under 12 months. Many are exhibited over that age and never checked. A pig at nine -months has four nippers, two more just showing on lower jaw, tusk pricking through, also second permanent grinders. At 12 months the three permanent nippers will be in view. At 12 to 13 months the three temporary double-teeth will have been shed, and their substitutes, which at 15 months of age have fully appeared, cutting through the gums.

BUYING PIGS. Many farmers buy at shows ; seeing a long pedigree attached to the exhibit, they buy a pig that has been well cared for, washed, oiled, and brushed down, looking as sleekiis a. mole. When they get it home, what is the result? Change of food, loss of its companions, it frets, and has less care. The farmer finds that the pig is not doing well with, him, but losing flesh, and is disgusted with liis purchase. My advice is, do not spare a pound on a good pig, it will improve your stock tenfold ; but go to one who has the name of a good breed of pigs on his farm, and select one in a rough state and fair condition; in nine cases out of ten you will have as good a pig as one purchased at the show, and at less cost. A sow should not be kept too long, unless an ex ceptionally good one. After two or three years, When fattened, the bacon or pork is generally hard. Boars should be/castrated after two years' service, as their flesh does not make such sweet bacon if killed older.

\ DISEASES. ... Swine are subject to coughs, colds, quinsy, measles, &c. Last year in this district a number of pigs died with quinsy. They laid down; would hardly get up to feed, and then only took a few mouthfuls. Their' throats were Bwollen to a great extent, and they were very costive. X found by mixing 1 lb of Epsom salts; Jib of saltpetre, and lib of sulphur, put into a large bottle, one third given three times a clay in a little warm food, as-muph as it will clear up (which will be very little), will soon give relief. Measles is discovered by looking under the tongue, where a quantity of small black blisters are found; when very bad, in the hind legs, and the flesh is spotted. Give the following dose :~Crude antimony, loz mixed with a little food. Keep the pig in the sty three to four hours. If this does not effect a cure repeat the dose. I have found sulphur, antimony, and saltpetre, equal parts mixed, loz, dose to each pig three times a week, give good results, and they thrive better. Vermin or lice on pigs are very annoying to them. You see them rubbing and scrubbing round the sty, post, or tree T Almost any kind of grease, mixed with a -little sulphur, will kill the vermin. Kerosene rubbed over the pigs will kill the eggs sticking on the liair. Glean the sty thoroughly and give fresh bedding Your pigs will be more contented and thrive better. CURING OF BACON. The pig, when dressed, should be hung up until thoroughly cold : a large 3wt or 4cwt pig will take 48 hours before cold. If not cold it will not take the salt well. Cut your pig up, rub well with salt, and let the fibrine run off. The following-day well rub with the following mixture :—4lb salt, lib dark sugar or treacle, and 2oz saltpetre. Turn the flitches every day. After rubbing them well put the top one at the bottom, adding more of the mixture as required ; all brine must l e allowed to drain off. A pig of 1501 b weight ought to be cured well in three weeks. If hams are taken off make sufficient brine to float an egg of the above mixture to cover them well. Take large hams out of pickle every day, rub the same as bacon, and return them to the pickle. They will be cured in from four to five weeks. When flitches are cured wash and dry them, hang them up to get smoked: the same with hams. A simple way of smoking bacon is to dig a hole about 3ft deep for a fire of sawdust, green

leaves, or anything that wi'l make a dense smoke. Dig a channel 18in up to Ift of the surface for a distance of sft or 6fb. Place a cask or large case that will hold in the smoke over the hole. Hang bacon or beef in cask. Cpver over the trench, and the smoke will be cool on reaching the bacon. Pyroligneous acid painted over bacon gives it a smoky flavour. I may hero state that a pig weighing 1001 b alive when dressed will leave about 801 b dead weight.

EXPORT OF BACON. We have now become an expoiting country. Look at the rapid strides we have made in relieving our, overstocked market. We have quick transit to the mother country for butter, cheese, wheat, peas, barley, and nearly all other farm produce, but Very few pigs. 1 fail to see why farmers cannot rear pigs at the low price of grain, and make it pay by sending pork, lard, and bacon to the world’s market—that is, England. I will read you a few extracts from the Board of Trade returns iu Great Biitain showing the number of and her importation. In 1867 there were in England 2,548,725 pigs; in Scotland, 188,307; in Ireland, 1,233,893 ; making a total of 3,970,925 pigs. In 1867 the importations to Great Britain were:—Bacon and hams 537,114 cwt, valued at L 1,391,779; pork 150,283cwb, valued at L 351,871; lard, 246,839 cwt, valued at L 625,183 : total, 934,236 c wt, valued at L 2,368,833. As showing the importance of pig breeding in the United States, in 1878 there were 32,362,500. In the year 1878 the three greatest hog-producing states in America were :—lowa, with 2,244,800; Ohio, 2,341,411; Illinois, 3,355,500 : giving a total of 7,941,711. In 1878 there were packed in Chicago alone over 5,000,000 swine, or one-sixth the whole number raised in the United States.

Now, with such facts and figures before you, why cannot Australia have a share in supplying England and other countries as well as America 1 I predict the time is not far distant when the Victorian farmer will alter his system of agriculture, and consume his grain on the farm, and feed a larger number of pigs than at present. lam under the impression that there is more profit made out of pigs than any other

animal raised on a farm in the same time.

In conclusion, I may advise every farmer that has any common breed of pigs to purchase a -well-bred bog and improve his stock. And let the hog be a Berkshire. Edward Baker, Bolinda, in the Australasian.