_ CHAPTER XIV. PRESENT AND FUTURE PIG-KEEPING
As it is impossible to foretell the effect which the present disastrous war will have upon the pig-breeding industry, we have deemed it expedient to refer as briefly as possible to the present conditions of feeding, etc., which may or may not prove to be of a temporary character or which may become permanent in a more or less modified manner.
One of the results of the scarcity and high market value of the different articles which have been commonly used in the feeding of pigs is drawing greatly increased attention to the original conditions under which pigs were kept, i.e. when they were in a wild state or when they were allowed their partial freedom for the purpose of getting their own living to a greater or lesser extent.
We are aware that a claim has been made by an enthusiastic convert to pig-keeping that in allowing his pigs their liberty to roam over grass fields and in woods he is practising quite a novel course of procedure, but the old hands merely smile and admire the enthusiasm which is more nearly allied with youth than old age. The practice may not have been generally followed of late years, but in the middle of the last century it was to the writer's knowledge common in certain of the Eastern Counties, particularly in Suffolk and portions of Essex and Cambridgeshire, where a considerable acreage of grass and especially clovers was grazed by pigs, having a greater or lesser quantity of other food as the pigs were intended for breeding or fattening purposes.
Generally speaking, some shelter of a temporary character was provided failing that furnished by trees, and straw stacks, etc., but our American cousins have gone one better in that they have introduced small movable houses which can be transported on wheels and can be utilised for a sow and her pigs, or for a number of stores. In the former course, an enclosure sufficiently large for the sow to graze therein is fenced in so that each sow can be kept separate until the pigs are old enough to prevent others from robbing them of their birthright. The chief difficulty attending this system is not experienced in the United States to the extent it is in this country, since the general custom there is to allow each sow to farrow a litter of pigs in the spring and then to fatten off both sow and pigs, save those reserved for breeding purposes next year. This plan, which appears to be wasteful, also handicaps the owner who desires to improve his pig stock, since an opportunity is denied him of discovering the best of his sows and so reserving them and their produce to form the nucleus of a really good herd. The system is not an entirely new one, as it is practised to a great extent in some parts of Lincolnshire and other Northern counties, where there is not the excuse made for it in the States that it avoids the trouble and risk from the intense cold attending the farrowing of sows in the winter.
It may be that the severity of our winters is not usually great, but the cold, damp and foggy weather commonly experienced in England during the last two or three months of the year render it necessary to warmly house young pigs, and this is difficult in wooden houses of limited size, as these become hot and stuffy when entirely closed, or damp and cold when unclosed. Again, the labour attending the feeding of a large herd housed in isolated sties must be very considerable. Another objection raised against this farrowing of sows in these small houses is that it is difficult if not impossible at night to have the pigman in attendance on the sow, further, that it is not advisable to allow the young pigs to roam about with their dam until they are some weeks old, as when the weather is cold or wet they become chilled and when the sun is hot they quickly become blistered, both conditions materially interfering with their well doing.
It is claimed that both sow and pigs are able to secure a large portion of their living, but a sow with a good litter of pigs on her requires a considerable amount of food in addition to grass to enable her to do justice to her young, whilst the younger pigs are unable to digest any quantity of grass until they are some weeks old; besides this, the youngsters thrive much better during their early life when confined in quarters than when trailing about after the sow. Could we ensure fairly fine weather, and an absence of cold nights and very changeable weather, the little pigs' chances of thriving under outdoor conditions would be considerably enhanced.
Another alleged new discovery is the permitting of pigs to roam at large in woods and plantations, wooden huts or open sheds being provided as shelter. By this plan a considerable amount of pig food is obtained where the trees are not closely planted, so that grass grows freely, or, in the autumn, in the woods in which oaks, beech, hazel, or sweet chestnut form a portion of the trees. In such woods strong store pigs are able to obtain the major portion of their food, but where the trees are of a kind which does not produce nuts or are closely planted, the additional food must be more plentiful, whilst the manurial value of the food is wasted to a considerable extent.
Perhaps the most profitable form of outdoor pig-keeping is that of running the pigs in orchards. This system has many advantages, the pigs are able to live without much additional food for some months in the year, they consume the insect-affected fallen fruit, and so act as insecticides. The pigs also usually leave their droppings under the trees, which are thus benefited therefrom, and especially is this the case where the pigs are being fattened or fed on food which enables them to make flesh. Many years since, the writer had several customers for breeding pigs who kept numbers of pigs in their orchards. One fruit grower in Kent declared that fattening pigs in his orchard resulted in the growing of heavier crops of cherries of larger size, better colour, and finer flavour. Another whose apple orchard was disappointing followed my advice to fatten pigs in it, declared that the quantity of apples grown was much greater, whilst both the size and quality of these were infinitely better.
Under the modern system of pig-keeping it is more profitable to give some additional and concentrated food to the pigs having their liberty, it is therefore wise to secure the full benefit arising from the richer living by running the pigs where the manure can be utilised, and no better place than an orchard can be found, since shelter from sun and wind is furnished by the fruit trees, and the pigs deposit their urine and excrement in exactly the place where it is most urgently required.
The practice of growing considerable areas of rape or cole seed, artichokes, peas of various kinds, beans, etc., to be fed off by pigs is not followed extensively in this country, although pig-keepers in the United States, Canada, Germany, Denmark, etc., have a partiality to it, since it is declared to save labour and to bring the land into a good manurial condition for the growth of corn crops; still some few of our more advanced farmers have been in the habit of grazing off lucerne, clovers, and even permanent and temporary grasses by the aid of pigs, which have also received in addition a varying amount of roots, corn, or meal. It is asserted, and evidence is available to prove the truth of the statement, that land can be economically and quickly and vastly improved by following the system referred to above. The scarcity and high market value of miller's offals and of meals such as used in the past to be utilised to a great extent in the feeding of pigs, has caused pig-keepers to seek for other foods to take their place. The residuum from the crushing of palm nuts, cocoa-nuts, and ground nuts has been most successfully used in connection with various forms of vegetable food; even sows have reared good litters of pigs on about 2 lbs. of a mixture of the meals remaining from the extraction of the oil from the nuts mentioned, with the addition of some form of vegetable food. This last has comprised cooked potatoes, raw artichokes, mangolds, kohl rabi, swedes, cabbages, etc., during the winter months, and grass, lucerne, clover, vetches, cole seed, etc., during the summer months. Fattening pigs will require a somewhat larger quantity of concentrated food and a reduced amount of vegetable food. The pre-war belief that sharps or middlings only was the most suitable food for sows with litters and for newly weaned pigs has been somewhat modified. Whether or not the quality and price of middlings will be restored after the war and thus its use become general as of old, must be left, but it is probable that in the future a certain proportion of the meals referred to will continue to be used for both breeding and fattening pigs. _