PROFITABLE PIG-KEEPING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2661, 15 March 1905, Page 6

PROFITABLE PIG-KEEPING.

Although there are various systems oi bleeding and feeding pigs for profit, there are only two that can be described as common throughout tne country. The n^ajority of those who keep pigs do so with little or no knowledge of the subject, and with almost systematic loss ; seldom, certainly, with due increasing profit. It is a curious fact, but it is true, that there is a large class of individuals who believe that poultry and pit; keeping can be carried on profitably by any person without the slightest previous acquaintance with the work, and without any attempt to obtain practical information in relation to it. This is an entire mistake. The pig breeding and feeding industry is, no doubt, simple in comparison with many other industries, but it demands knowledge and experience, in the absence of which it cannot succeed.

In advising British farmers on the subject, Professor James Long says : — Profit from pig keeping depends very largely upon a recognition in practice of (1) the adaptability of the breeding sow ; (ii) the need of a cross ; (3) the management of the breeding stock ; and (4) what we may term rational feeumg. The practitioner finds — and we are not speaking of the pedigree breeder — tnat the best sow is one which is long in the body, broad in the loin and chest, deep from the back to the abdomen, full in the ham. Such a pig may be as large as can be obtained, and it matters very little whether it is a halfbred, a quarterbred, or a mongrel in which pure blood is just traceable, so long as it is not a mere waster, upon -which flesh cannot be put by good feeding." The animal should be, in addition, vigorous in the txtren-p, full of health, and a determined feeder, able when at liberty to forage -well for herself. The drift of these remarks is that such a pig will not only produce a large, Out a vigorous litter. Large litters may be obtained from time to time from pedigree sows, bnt the ordinary breeder requires something more • he Wants his pigs to live and to thrive, not in numbers to* large for a sow to rear, but vi numbers sufficiently large to pay him for his trouble. With regard to the cross, the boar should be such as will impart quality to the offspring, assisting in the promotion of their growth and in their rapid feeding into meat. Sows such as described do not always produce offspring that are quick feeders, but the point is not imperative so long as the cross is judicious. A sow which does breed quics feeding pigs, mated to a boar of sim'Hr blood, may — and does in the case of some of the purebreds — net only produce youn; which feed well, but become much too fat for the buyer, and this must be guarded against. A sow should have liberty, inasmuch as exercise assists in the maintenance of health and vigour, without which prolific and hardy litters are next to impossible. The feeding ot the sow, if in the sty or partly in the sty. must be such that fatness will not be encouraged and that constitution will not be impaired, and this brings us to what may be termed the rational feeding of pigs for market. On this branch ot the subject Professor Long is specially instructive. He writes :— " Xow the object of breeding pigs is the production of pig meat — pork or bacon. Modern practice like modern theory teaches that early maturity is not only the most economical to the breeder, but most appreciated by the curer a'nei the consumer. The meat is less fat if the breeding is right, as well as more tender. Whatever may be said of the practice of feeding old bacon, we are convinced that, just as it has been, throughout the country in general, abandoned in favour of young meat, so does the feeder find that his profit is increased when he adopts ihe practice of maturing early instead of feeding late. It costs infinitely more to produce a pound of meat on an older pig than on a young pig, and thus the? bigger the animal fed. and the longer it is ted, the greater the cost per pound of both live and carcase weight. Indeed, feeding may continue unti. meat is produced at an actual loss, until indeed an animal sells for a good deal less than it has cost to feed."

The object, then, in feeding for meat production, which is the great end in view, should be to rear the young pigs well while with the sow oy feeding her rationally, and leaving with her no more than she can rear with justice, and subsequently forcing them on in order that they may be placed in the market fit for the butcher at the earliest possible moment. What may be done in this direction every man can see for himself, not only at tbe great summer breeding stock exhibitions, but at the winter shows. Here we are able to find youngpigs of six months which are as heavy as°the average fat pig of the country at 12 months or more. In this way the individual animal is not only worth more money per pound and per head, but the number of pigs fed— or, shall we say, turned over? — per annum is precise!/ doubled.

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