Southern planter - The W&M Digital Archive

1908.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 19
raised in each Southern State each year at a profit to those
engaged in the business and with possibilities for unlimited
soil improvement, by intelligent management.
Selecting the Foundation Herd.
In the limited scope of this paper it is impossible to
go into the question of breeds or to more than touch upon
the selection of ithe foundation herd. Suffice it to state
that too much care cannot be taken in the selection of
the breeding stock. For many reasons I prefer a pure-
bred herd, even for raising hogs for market. The off-
spring will be more uniform and will command higher
prices and each mating will not in turn present a Chinese
puzzle as to what the issue will be. The scrub should be
sent to the realm of shade with the wooden plow, grain
cradle and spinning wheel. At the present price of land,
labor and feed, it is nothing less than an indictment
against a farmer's business sagacity to persist in breeding
mongrels. At all events, the males used in the herd
should be pure-breds and to get pure-bred males we must
have pure-bred herds. The hogs selected should possess
a store of inherited vitality and vigor. There must
be ~no congenital tendencies to constitutional weakness
or the venture will be foredoomed to failure. The animal
must convert a large amount of material into mar
ketable products, in a very short period of time and anj
weakness whatever, will result in a failure to carry to
profitable consummation its purpose in life.
In selecting the herd, then, regard must be had to those
types which meet utility demands, and a system of management
and feeding must be practiced which will in-
sure prolificacy, the production of strong healthy pigs to
begin with, which will develop a good frame and internal
organs, so that when the time comes for fattening we
will have an animal with strong powers of digestion and
assimilation and capable of withstanding heavy forced
feeding and arrive at the slaughter-house without having
developed any form of constitutional weakness.
Arrangement of Lots and Hog-houses.
Every farmer who attempts to raise hogs should have
a number of lots fenced with pig-proof fence and con
venient to his hog barn or houses. A good plan is to have
a tract of land with a roadway extending along one side
of it, or through it, with lots on both sides. These lots
should be as near one size as possible and the gates opening
into them should be the same width as the road, and
made to swing across it. This will facilitate matters
when it is desired to move the hogs from one lot to an-
other. These lots should be seeded in different crops in
order to furnish continuous grazing for the hogs during
the greater part of the year. With mill feed at $1.40 per
cwt. and corn at $3.00 to $3.50 per bbl. it is quite possi-
ble to come out at the little end of the horn in selling
hogs at $6.00 to $6.50 gross. With the proper succession
of grazing crops and supplementing with the concen-
trates in order to get a balanced ration in some instances,
it is possible to make a handsome profit at these prices,
for both the grain and the marketable hogs.
Permanent Pasture.
Lot number one should be seeded in grass for a permanent
pasture; either blue grass or a mixture of blue
grass and white clover, or in some sections orchard grass
and in still other sections—farther south—Bermuda grass.
It is well to build the hog-houses on this lot. They should
not be expensive, but should be dry, well ventilated and
admit the sunshine, comparatively warm in winter and
cool in summer and free from cold draughts and should
be so arranged as to be easily cleaned. The portable hoghouses
are rapidly coming into favor and justly so. In
A DUROC-JERSEY BOAR.
building a hog-house of any size nothing will pay better
than an investment in doors and window glass. Disin-
fectants are alright, but can never be substituted for
cleanliness and sunshine. Microbes that prove the most
fruitful source of disease are but the foul brood of darkness,
dampness and dirt. These three "d's" spell death
to pigs. Biologists have shown that sunlight destroys
disease germs.
Dwarf Essex Rape.
Lot number two should be seeded in Dwarf Essex rape
as early in the spring as possible; in Virginia by the
20th of April. The rape will do to pasture in from four to
six weeks, as it is quick growing and thrives wherever
corn is a dependable crop and produces an enormous
amount of green, rich forage that is relished by both
hogs and sheep. Rape can be planted in corn at the last
cultivation of the latter and will then make an excellent
fall pasture. At the Wisconsin Station where much attention
has been given to this crop, it was demonstrated
that pigs thrive better on rape than clover, grain being
fed in both cases. Several of the experiment stations
found it possible to keep brood sows in good condition on
Dwarf Essex rape with very little grain. The writer has
used rape with the most satisfactory results and pastured
it continually this year from June 20th till December ,15th.
Sorghum.
Lot number three should be planted in early amber
sorghum about the last of April or the first of May. It
should be cut in the fall and shocked near the winter
quarters and fed to the hogs when no other succulent
food is available, For fattening hogs, or for sows that
are suckling pigs, sorghum is most valuable. A good
plan is to mix some sorghum with the rape seed and
sow the two broadcast, and harrow them in. This furn
ishes one of the best grazing crops we have tried.
Soy Beans, Cow Peas and Corn.
Lot number four may be planted in soy beans, or cow