The Pig: Breeding, Rearing, and Marketing

CHAPTER XVII
DISEASES OF THE PIG

Fortunately, the pig is subject to comparatively few serious diseases—save swine fever, swine erysipelas, and very occasionally anthrax, which are contagious or infectious, and all in the special charts of the veterinary department of the Board of Agriculture, and within the contagious Diseases Animals Acts. Prior to the stamping out of Foot and Mouth Disease or apthous fever and rabies, pigs suffered from these contagious and infectious diseases, particularly the former of the two, which caused immense losses, especially of young pigs, during the latter half of the past century.

Of the other ailments to which pig flesh is heir, the majority and the chief of them are mainly due to that want of knowledge or care in the feeding and in the housing of the pigs which renders them more susceptible to the sudden changes in the temperature or to the inclemency of the season. In former chapters some, if not all, of these ailments have been referred to, but it may be more convenient to our readers to include in one chapter a brief description of the ailments and the remedies and means of prevention.

Swine Fever

Some thirty years since the losses from this disease were of so serious a nature that the Board of Agriculture determined to attempt to stamp it out, as they had succeeded in stamping out pleura pneumonia in cattle, and foot and mouth disease. The success of their efforts was not at all commensurate with the outlay. The failure was attributed to many causes; amongst them the want of a complete knowledge of the disease, the impossibility of diagnosing it during the life of the patient, the absence of sympathy on the part of the local veterinary surgeons owing to certain steps taken by the then Veterinary Adviser of the Board, to which further reference is now inadvisable, and to the general opposition of pig-keepers who had as little faith in many of the post mortems and their results as in the power of the authorities to stamp out the disease which under various names had been more or less common in the country so long as they could remember. Doubts were also passed on the infectivity or contagiousness of swine fever, or as it was variously termed red soldier, spots, etc.

This disbelief was probably due in part to the fact that some of the external symptoms of swine fever, swine erysipelas, and heart disease, such as discoloration of the skin were of a similar character. In some instances this redness of the skin, which was looked upon as a sure sign that the pig had died from swine fever, did not prove to be infectious, as no other cases followed amongst the in-contact pigs. This led to the general belief that swine fever was not necessarily infectious. Dissatisfaction with the arbitrary manner in which the restrictions in movement, etc., were carried out did not mend matters, nor help to render the efforts of the Board more successful.

At the present time it is imperative on the part of the owner of an ill pig to report the fact to the nearest policeman. The owner then merely carries out the instructions supplied to him by the police so that it is almost unnecessary to state that the symptoms of swine fever are several. At times the attack is of so virulent a nature that a pig may take its food all right in the afternoon and be dead the next morning, no discoloration of the skin or other external symptoms being visible before or immediately after death.

As a rule when the pig is attacked the first symptom is loss of appetite, generally accompanied by a feverish condition of the skin which shows more or fewer red spots behind the shoulder, and inside the thighs, or in those portions of the body where the skin is the thinnest and most free from hair. The great desire of the affected pig is to burrow into the litter and to remain undisturbed, save when the feverish thirst impels it to seek moisture of any sort or kind, even urine which may have settled into any unevenness of the floor of the sty.

Many of the ailing pigs suffer from a dry, husky cough, a gummy discharge exudes from the eyes and forms a ring round them, the ankles become affected, and the muscles of the back become weakened so that the pig has difficulty in walking. The discoloration of the skin may or may not increase, but the weakness gradually becomes greater so that death may follow within a day or two from the first attack. Occasionally the affected pig will continue to live for several days, and eventually recover so much that it can be fatted, but there exists a great risk of the recovered pig being what is termed a "carrier" of the disease, and possessing the ability to infect other pigs with which it may come in close contact, although the germs of the disease which it carries do not affect its own health. Similar instances of human beings being "carriers" of the disease have been recorded. So difficult is it at times to discover the source of the infection of swine fever that certain persons who are not amongst the strongest believers in the practical knowledge of the members of the veterinary profession assert that swine fever need not necessarily be the result of infection, but that injudicious feeding or the neglect of sanitary arrangements will sometimes cause an outbreak. There does not appear to be the slightest ground for this belief, as there is a specific virus which when it obtains ingress into the body of the pig, whether by the mouth, nose, or in any other way, may result in an attack, more or less severe, of swine fever, unless the virus has become so attenuated that it is unable to affect the host sufficiently. This attenuation, which is due to causes which are probably not completely known, is commonly the cause of the absence of further cases of swine fever amongst one of a lot of pigs which has had a very mild attack. This variation in the virulence of most infectious diseases has been noticed and recorded.

At the present time the Board of Agriculture have suspended the slaughter order in cases where the owner of the pigs desires to inoculate the in-contact pigs with serum which is supplied from the Veterinary College. The experiment has not been in operation sufficiently long enough to express a confident opinion upon its results, but it is stated that in Denmark the inoculation of the pigs which have been in contact with diseased pigs has proved to be a success. The risks of carrying out the experiment are by no means slight, but appear to be worth running if there be any great probability of success.

Swine Erysipelas

The symptoms of this disease, which fortunately is not so common as swine fever, owing probably to its being more fatal and in a shorter time, are very similar to those of swine fever, save that the husky cough and the weakness of the muscles of the back are generally absent. The post mortem shows distinctive differences from those of swine fever. There appears to be far greater difficulty in thoroughly disinfecting the sty in which pigs suffering from erysipelas have been housed than after swine fever cases; not only so, but the virus remains active for a very long period, so that any accident which may expose the virus even after many months may affect any pigs with which it comes in contact.

In an outbreak of swine erysipelas it is advisable to have the unaffected pigs inoculated as well as those housed in a sty or building in which at any time pigs suffering from erysipelas have been housed. A certain limited number may die, and a few suffer for a time, but the total loss will be considerably reduced.

Anthrax, Foot and Mouth Disease and Rabies

It may be unnecessary to describe these very infectious or contagious diseases to which pigs are subject, as fortunately the steps taken to stamp them out, and which were much decried when taken by the Board of Agriculture, have proved so successful that the two latter are stamped out, and the first named is so promptly and effectually dealt with that a case of it amongst swine is seldom recorded.

Cramp, Diarrhœa and Epileptic Fits

These diseases, which are more frequent amongst young pigs, have been fully described in the chapters dealing with the rearing, weaning, and growing of pigs, where it is pointed out that they are all mainly due to faults in feeding, and the simple remedies applicable are there given.

Hernia and Scrotal Hernia are also treated upon in the chapter on the Farrowing Sow.

Inversion of the Vagina or the Uterus

These two troubles, of which the latter is a complete expulsion and the former only a partial protrusion of the "breeding bag," are generally the result of a difficult or a protracted farrowing. The second is almost impossible of treatment, and indeed may be declared as fatal, so that the loss may be reduced by prompt slaughter.

The first varies in extent; a partial or limited inversion may at times be noticeable during the latter stages of pregnancy, and then after delivery may disappear without treatment until the pressure due to the increasing size of the fœtus again causes it. Even in serious cases which attend the delivery and are due to excessive straining of the sow, the attack is not necessarily fatal if extreme care in treatment is applied. The first thing is to wash the protruding part with warm water, to which some disinfectant has been added, in order that all dirt, short straw, etc., shall be removed. The sow should then be made to rise, or if she refuses, as is not uncommon, the hind quarters of the sow should be raised and the protruding portion be gently but firmly forced back. In order to prevent a re-expulsion stitches with strong cord or leather lace should be inserted into the edges of the vulva—these need not be very close together or otherwise the sow would be unable to make water. For a few days the sow must be kept as quiet as possible and fed on a little nourishing but laxative food, so that the pressure on the vagina is slight until the muscles regain their normal strength. Should there be the slightest symptom of constipation, salts or castor oil should be given to the sow. No harm, but rather good, will attend the giving of a gentle dose of salts at the first time of feeding after the operation as there is certain to be an amount of inflammation present.

Inversion of the Rectum

This expulsion of the gut as it is commonly termed is not often experienced amongst mature pigs. Young pigs are not uncommonly affected save when constipation is neglected, or when the food is of a heating nature which causes continual difficulty on the part of the pig in expelling the fæces. The effort of straining causes the gut to exude. Similar treatment, save as to the stitching of the part, as with inversion of the vagina, should be followed.

Tender Feet

This trouble is frequently mistaken for cramp or rheumatism, and is generally due to the same causes, injudicious feeding, etc. In the latter disease the ankles are mainly affected, in the case of fever in the feet, the feet only are affected. A strong dose of Epsom salts should be given and daily doses of nitre should be given in the food. The object should be to reduce and remove the fever and then to cure or remove that tenderness and soreness of the feet which follows the fever. Poulticing the feet and applying diluted white oils by adding equal quantities of water and vinegar around the coronets are both remedial measures of great value.

Constipation

This trouble is very common amongst pigs which are confined to the sties, its avoidance is comparatively easy, when the want of exercise is the sole cause. A run in an enclosure or even in the road will almost always result in the pig evacuating dung and water. A dose of salts, varying from 1/2 oz. to 1-1/2 oz. for each pig, according to age, in the next supply of food is advisable.

Constipation is usually the first indication of many of the troubles to which the pig is heir. The little pig on its mother becomes constipated when the food fed to the mother is unsuitable, and the pig suffers from indigestion; fever caused by a chill is also foretold by constipation which should be first removed by a gentle dose of salts or of castor oil; the last only to be used in severe cases. Linseed oil is also frequently used to relieve the constipation, but with this there is a fear of billiousness following its use. If exercise and the above remedies do not effect a cure, an enema of soap and water or even glycerine may be necessary. Old-fashioned pigmen remove the hard and knotty fæces by the aid of the finger.

Eczema

This is sometimes called a skin disease, but it appears to be rather a symptom of a severe attack of indigestion or of billiousness than a disease in itself. It shows itself in the form of a bright red spot, varying in size from that of a threepenny piece to that of a shilling, these spots vary greatly in number. Small pimples appear on the spots from which a sticky fluid exudes. As soon as the bowels are thoroughly relieved by aperient medicine, the spots become dark in colour and peel off the skin. The application of oil to the spots hastens the shedding of them. A dose of sulphur of one to eight drachms in addition to the salts will be beneficial.

Frequently the pig will refuse to eat, it will then be necessary to dose it. The pig must be caught, its head raised and the liquid gently poured down its throat, the greatest care being taken not to pour the liquid whilst the pig is squealing or the medicine will go into the lungs and cause suffocation, or inflammation of the lungs which will generally prove fatal.

Measles

This is a trouble of a very similar character to eczema save that the red spots are more numerous and of a more irritating character. The patient is continually rubbing itself against the wall or any prominence in an endeavour to relieve the itching. The pig is also more feverish. The pig should be placed in a warm sty, with plenty of dry straw, into which it will quickly burrow. A dose of Epsom salts to which is added a small quantity of spirit of nitre should be given, as the pig affected will almost invariably refuse food for a time. Neat's foot or sweet oil applied to the spots will relieve the irritation.

Rickets

This is not by any means a common ailment amongst pigs, but it is very hereditary. The most common cause is too close breeding. The bones and joints appear to be unequal to the performance of their duties, the pig staggers and stumbles when it attempts to move, whilst sometimes the back is affected, when the pig is stated to be suffering from "swayback." As a rule treatment is inadvisable as recovery is doubtful. The first loss by knocking the pig on the head is generally the least.

Tuberculosis

Pigs, like unto human beings, are much subject to tuberculosis when they are kept under conditions similar to those which result in human beings becoming affected. The disease is highly infectious, pigs coming in contact with or even being housed in sties where pigs affected have been recently kept are very likely to become infected. Some persons declare that tuberculosis, or, as it is more commonly called, consumption, is hereditary. For this there does not appear to be any foundation. The chief thing to prevent one's animals being affected is to keep them away from contagion. Although many parts of the body may be attacked by tuberculosis, the lungs are more frequently affected than any other of the organs, owing probably to the ease with which infection by the minute germ is conveyed to the lungs in the act of breathing.

In the past a considerable number of pigs became infected through being fed on skim milk which contained germs from the udder of a cow suffering from a tuberculous udder. In these cases of the lungs and the bowels becoming tubercular, the pigs become unthrifty and frequently waste away and die. When the bones and other portions of the body are attacked the development of the disease is not so rapid, but in any case the wisest plan is to destroy the animal and thoroughly disinfect the place in which it has been kept. Save when the disease is local and of very limited duration the meat of a pig suffering from tuberculosis is unfit for human consumption.

Worms

Pigs are subject to various kinds of worms. Of these the most serious by far is the worm which causes the disease called Trichinosis in man. The worms are transmitted to man in pork from a diseased pig. Thorough cooking of meat appears to destroy the vitality of the worm, but in foreign countries where the pork is eaten in an uncooked or an undercooked condition the disease is not uncommon. Fortunately, Trichinosis is almost unknown in this country, owing to our more stringent sanitary conditions, the disease being due in the pig to the eating of human excrement in which are thread worms.

The most common kind of pig worm in this country is the round white worm, pointed at both ends. Its length varies from one to several inches. Its presence is often unsuspected until one or more of the worms are noticed in the dung of the pig. It is readily got rid of by keeping the pigs from food for at least twelve hours, and then giving them a little tempting food in which a dose of santonine, varying from three to ten grains for each pig, according to its age, has been added. Some two hours later a dose of castor oil of from 1/4 oz. to 2 oz., or of one to two ounces of Epsom salts, should be given in milk or some other tempting food. Similar treatment will prove successful in the case of pigs affected with the smaller kind of worms save that of the worm which causes what is commonly known as "husk." This worm makes its home in the windpipe and bronchial tubes. It is advisable to obtain from a chemist a drench for the riddance of this worm, as the remedies will consist of linseed oil, turpentine, spirits of camphor, and asafœtida.

Sore Teats

Occasionally the teats of sows, especially sows with their first litters, become chapped or sore. This trouble is frequently due to the too vigorous sucking of the little pigs when the supply of milk is short, to the biting of the teats when the sharp little teeth have not been broken off, or even to cold winds.

An application of boro-glyceride will usually effect a speedy cure. In persistent cases it will be advisable to give the sow a dose or two of opening medicine such as salts or sulphur.

Salt and Soda Poisoning

Although these can scarcely be classed as diseases, the effects are often more serious than those of some actual diseases to which swine are more or less subject.

In the majority of cases the cause is the neglect of the cook to keep separate from the swill the water in which salted meat or other food has been boiled, or the water to which soda has been added in the washing of the plates, etc. An attack if at all severe is usually fatal.

The symptoms are a discoloration of the skin, and a refusal of food. As these are the usual symptoms of several other ailments, it is difficult to determine the cause of death save by a post-mortem examination. It is to be feared that this mixing of a solution of salt and soda with the other swill will be one of the difficulties met with in the more general utilisation of kitchen refuse in the keeping of pigs.

CHAPTER XVIII
THE CURING OF PORK

In the good old times bacon curing was carried on in the large majority of farm-houses as well as in many houses in the country districts, not only where there were conveniences for the keeping of pigs, but many householders were in the habit of buying carcases of pork from their neighbours and curing the major portion for the following year's supply of cured meats. Even the better class labourers would kill and cure it so that as long as it lasted they had on hand a supply of most nutritious and suitable food. Unfortunately a great change has taken place of late years; this convenient and profitable plan has been superseded. The causes may have been many; amongst them, the importation of immense quantities of salt pork of very inferior quality at very low prices from the United States; the change in the public taste which is now for mild cured and lean bacon from young pigs, instead of the more heavily salted meats from older and fatter pigs; the great decrease in the number of pigs kept by cottagers and others in urban districts through the operation of the so-called sanitary regulations; and probably from the different style of living, which may or may not be an improvement, amongst the residents in country districts.

It may be that one of the many changes which have been brought about by, and which will also follow, the war will be a return to the more simple and less luxurious manner of living. It is certain that a more economical system will have to be followed, and one of the means of effecting this may be a return to the keeping of pigs during their growing stage on the house and garden refuse, and then when the pigs have been fattened, by the killing and curing of the carcase for home consumption.

Much has been written during recent years about the folly of allowing so many millions of sovereigns to go out of the country in payment for the vast weight of bacon, hams, and lard which we import from foreign countries. Residents in the country have been blamed by town residents and literary men for their alleged want of enterprise in not breeding and fattening the few extra million pigs which would furnish an amount of pig produce equal to that imported, and thus, as they declare, save the country that outlay which is a dead loss to these islands.

It may at once be frankly admitted that a very considerable increase in the number of our pig population is possible without any very greatly extended cost of food, but when it is contended that farmers and even cottagers are grossly neglectful in not producing sufficient pork and its products for the use of the whole of the population of these islands, an injustice is done, as the breeding and feeding of pigs is a business calling, not a philanthropical pursuit. Farmers and cottagers are like other manufacturers of necessary articles; they produce in order to live, and they cease to manufacture an article when its production ceases to repay them for their outlay and trouble. They must of necessity do so, or they come to grief and are unable to carry on their farms or businesses.

It matters not what the cause be for the ability of the foreigner to produce and land on our markets articles cheaper than we can afford to offer them at, the result is the same—the home production is automatically reduced. There are many causes which have helped to render it possible for foreigners to supply us with a certain proportion of the pork and bacon which we require at a less cost than our home breeder and feeders of pigs can supply it. These include help to the farmers from the Governments of certain countries such as Denmark, where assistance is given in the purchase of pure bred pigs for the improvement of the native pigs, in the reduced railway and other rates on the transit of pigs, foods, and bacon, in the provision of certain foods, and in carrying out experiments in order to show how they may be utilised in the best manner. Stud farms have also been established from which pure bred boars are distributed, whilst the whole industry of pig breeding and bacon curing is carried on under the supervision and with the advice of many Government officials appointed for the purpose. The intrinsic value of this assistance is perceptible, as in no other country are pig-keeping and bacon curing carried on with greater monetary success than in Denmark.

It is also asserted that the general system of farming in Denmark has also contributed very largely to the phenomenal prosperity of the pig industry, in that a very large proportion of the land is owned and farmed by comparatively small farmers, men who have a direct interest in the improvement of the land, and who with their families perform the major portion of the work on the land and in attendance on the stock. The land is almost certain to be well managed and the stock to receive the best possible attention with, comparatively speaking, little cost as to labour. The animals on the farm are likely to be of a higher grade and the returns from them of an increased character, than when strangers and disinterested hired labour attend and feeds them.

Another of the great advantages possessed by some of our foreign competitors is the very much better supply of feeding stuffs and their very considerably lower cost. Take the United States, for instance, the enormous supply of maize alone enables American pigmen to manufacture pork at a cost which enables the packers to land bacon, hams, and lard on the British shores which our home pig producers cannot approach. Although it cannot be said that the cost of labour is less in the States than in England, yet there are some countries from which we import pork products where the labour is far more plentiful and less costly. In the future the allowance for labour will have to be on a more liberal scale than hitherto when estimating the cost of producing pork, unless the number of persons owning and occupying small holdings is greatly increased.

It has been stated that our home producers of pork and bacon will obtain a considerable advantage in the future in that the freight on the imported meats will be so much higher. It is most probable that this will increase the expense of landing bacon, etc., on our markets; on the other hand, as we import so large a proportion of the pig fattening foods, the cost of food will most likely be increased to quite the same if not to a greater extent. The only plan to reduce this extra expense will be to lessen the outlay on imported foods by paying more attention to the growth of various foods suitable for pigs, attending more carefully to our pigs and feeding them on common-sense lines. In these particulars there is room for much improvement in many piggeries.

By reducing the cost of the production of pork and by the more general adoption of the system of home curing we shall not only obtain our bacon at less cost, but we shall have a far greater amount of the finest quality of bacon and hams generally available. We imagine that the reader of the earlier portion of this book will experience little difficulty in producing fine quality pork at a minimum cost—it will then remain to cure and dry it properly.

The fattened pig should not be fed for some twenty-four hours before it is killed; after slaughter the carcase should remain hanging until it is thoroughly cooled. The manner of cutting up will depend on the custom in the particular district. In some parts of the country the pig is split down, the head, feet, and tail taken off, the leaf and kidneys and the skirt taken out, the loin and the crop with a certain proportion of the lean cut off, and in some cases the shoulder blade is drawn; after the necessary trimming a Wiltshire side remains.

In other districts the ham and the shoulder are cut off and the side is converted into a middle, a ham and a shoulder or fore-ham. The jowls are taken off the head and salted with the bacon and hams. The upper part of the head, or, as it is commonly termed, the scorf, is usually used with the feet in the manufacture of brawn, or, as it is sometimes called, pork cheese—presumably from its being cooled in a form, and then turned out on to the dish on which it is served at table.

The first operation in curing is to distribute a small quantity of salt all over the meat to be cured. If allowed to remain about forty-eight hours the blood remaining in the meat will have become dissolved, and will have exuded from the carcase. This liquid should be thrown away. A mixture in the proportion of 4 lbs. salt, 1 lb. coarse brown sugar, 1 oz. saltpetre, 1/4 oz. bay salt, and 1/4 oz. salt prunell should be prepared, and a portion of it be applied to all parts of the meat and particularly in the pocket hole, if the shoulder blade has been drawn. This should be continued for from twenty to thirty days, according to the thickness of the meat and the degree of saltness desired. In one or two districts of a limited area it is usual to rub the meat somewhat violently with a large pebble when applying the salt mixture, the alleged object being to rub in the salt; but for this there is not the slightest necessity as the result of the rubbing is nil, since the salt will penetrate the meat equally as well without the manipulation as with it. The principal point is to secure the distribution of the salt to every part of the meat so that the salt can penetrate and preserve it.

When sufficiently cured the meat should be hung up and dried. If it be desired to have it smoked this is best done at the village bakery or smoke drying house. Smoking of hams and bacon is possible on a small scale with the aid of a smoke oven such as supplied by Messrs. Douglas and Sons of Putney, but it is, as a rule, cheaper and less troublesome to send the meat to the village smoking house. It will be advisable to brand or otherwise mark each piece of cured meat sent to be smoked, as the return of the same pieces is thus assured.

Where the home curing of bacon and hams is followed, this is best carried out from the middle of October to the end of March; if it be attempted earlier or later a cold chamber is necessary.

The manufacture of salt pork is carried on all the year through as the meat is usually kept in the brine, where it will keep perfectly good for a considerable time providing it is perfectly sweet when first placed in the brine. To secure this it is advisable to have the pig killed in the evening, covered over with a cloth to prevent the flies approaching it, and hanging it in a cool place so that all the natural heat has escaped ere it is cut up and placed in the pickle pot. It may be advisable to note that the last is only possible with a small pig during the hot weather. In the mere salting of pork it is usual to use only salt and saltpetre. The use of sugar should be avoided in the summer, as its use is likely to result in fermentation in hot weather.

There are two other points in connection with bacon curing on which a change of opinion has taken place, or is taking place. These are the cause of what are called in the trade "seedy bellies," and the effect on the bacon of the female fat pig being in a state of œstrum when it is slaughtered. Until quite recently the first of these troubles, and it is a most serious one to the trade, was generally considered to be due to the second. It was believed by curers that the slight inflammation noticeable in the mammary glands of the female pig when she is in heat resulted in these so-called "seedy bellies" if the pig was in that condition when she was slaughtered. This belief may have been either the cause or the result, or both, of the common saying that the meat of a sow pig killed when it was in heat will not take the salt properly, and that it is therefore advisable to wait until this natural condition has passed away before the pig is slaughtered. This contention has been one of the arguments used when the spaying of sow pigs has been advocated. Of late years comparatively few sow pigs have been spayed, so that the unspayed fat pigs have been nearly as numerous as those male pigs which have been castrated, and as the sow pigs come in heat each three weeks, and continue so for from three to five days, a very considerable proportion of them must be in heat when they are slaughtered at the large bacon-curing factories, without any loss resulting. We may, therefore, assume that it matters little whether the pig be in heat or not when it is slaughtered unless the seedy bellies result.

On this point also the verdict is against the common belief, as Messrs. Mackenzie and Marsh have carried out a series of investigations at Cambridge which clearly proved that seedy bellies were equally as common when the sow pigs were not in heat and when they were; but that the discoloration which resembles numbers of small spots of colour varying from dark blue to light red in the mammary glands is merely an excess of pigment, the darker shade being common in pigs with dark coloured hair and skin such as the Large Blacks, Berkshires, etc., and the lighter shade in pigs of the Tamworth breed. In the bacon manufactured from pigs with a white skin and white hair there is no discoloration or seedy bellies.

Although it has been generally considered by bacon curers that pigs of a white colour were preferable for their trade, and this to such an extent that some of the bacon curers in Ireland will pay a slightly higher price for a pig with a white skin, the preference was generally considered to be due to the more presentable appearance of a side of bacon from a white than from a black pig; it would appear that in the future a still greater preference will be observable when it becomes generally known that the bacon made from white pigs is free from seedy bellies.

INDEX

• Anthrax, 162
• Apthous fever, 15, 162
• Arrival of little pigs, 82
• Artichokes for pigs, 89
• Attendance on farrowing sow, 80

• Bacon curing, 177
• Bacon smoking, 177
• Bacon from young pigs, 171
• Barley meal as sole fatting food, 134
• Barn for pigsty, 109
• Baulked sows, 76
• Baulking sows, 94
• Berkshire breed, 33
• Black pigs, 75
• Blind teats, 70
• Boar's teats, 62
• Board of Agriculture's premiums, 47
• Bob-tailed pigs, 86
• Breeds of pigs at shows, 17
• British Berkshire Society, 27
• Butter milk, 153

• Cabbages for pigs, 101
• Canadian system, 47
• Carriers of swine fever, 158, 188
• Castrating pigs, 105
• Castrating ruptured pigs, 88
• Cause of parti-coloured pigs, 15
• Close breeding, 46
• Clover for pigs, 89
• Coleseed for pigs, 103
• Constipation in pigs, 164
• Consumption in pigs, 167
• Cooked v. uncooked maize, 147
• Cooked v. uncooked potatoes, 150
• Cooking pig foods, 144
• Cooking potatoes, 147
• Cross-bred pigs, 39
• Cross breds v. pure breds, 45
• Cumberland pigs, 38
• Cutting up the pig, 176

• Danish pig-keeping, 174
• Dead pigs, 83
• Delicacy of pure-bred pigs, 45
• Dentition of pigs, 49
• Diarrh[oe]a, 162
• Difficulty in disinfecting sties, 161
• Diseases of pigs, 157
  • Anthrax
  • Apthous fever
  • Constipation
  • Cramp
  • Diarrh[oe]a
  • Eczema
  • Epileptic fits
  • Foot and mouth disease
  • Inversion of the rectum
  • "   "   " vagina
  • "   "   " uterus
  • Measles
  • Rabies
  • Rickets
  • Salt poisoning
  • Soda poisoning
  • Sore teats
  • Swine erysipelas
  • Swine fever
  • Tender feet
  • Tuberculosis
  • Worms
• Dorset pigs, 25
• Dosing pigs, 166
• Dry beds, 103
• Dysentery, 85

• Eczema, 165
• Effect of food and climate, 148
• Epileptic fits, 162
• Essex half-blacks, 21
• Excited young sows, 81
• Exhibition of pigs, 113
• Exposure of mangolds, 152
• Extra food in the autumn, 155

• Farmer owners, 174
• Farrowing sow, 79
• Fits, 86
• Flabby udders, 70
• Foot and mouth disease, 15
• Foster mothers, 119

• Garget, 101
• Gloucestershire Old Spots breed, 37
• Government help, 47
• Grade breeding pigs, 46
• Grazing pigs, 73

• Ham curing, 171
• Hampshire pigs, 20
• Hernia, 162
• High-backed pigs, 100
• Holywell Victoria Countess, 77
• Husk, 160

• Importation of bacon and lard, 172
• Improved breeds, origin of, 13
• Increased cost of freight, 175
• Infectivity of swine fever, 158
• Influence of sire, 43, 54
• "   " dam, 54
• Inoculation for erysipelas, 162
• "   " swine fever, 162
• Inversion of the rectum, 164
• "   "   " vagina, 164
• "   "   " uterus, 162

• Large boars, 59
• Large Black breed, 30
• Large blue and white pigs, 23
• Large White breed, 30
• Large White Ulster breed, 35
• Lincolnshire Curly Coated breed, 36
• Litter for pigs, 103
• Lucerne for pigs, 89, 153

• Maize supply, 174
• Mangolds for pigs, 101
• Mating the young sow, 72
• "   " suckling sow, 92
• Measles, 166
• Medicine for farrowing sow, 83
• Mere size studied, 65
• Messrs. Harris's scheme, 43
• Middle White breed, 31
• Milk for sucking pigs, 100
• Mixture of food, 135
• Model piggeries, 108

• Neat sows, 65
• Non-infectious swine fever, 160
• Norfolk pigs, 24
• Northamptonshire pigs, 23
• Number of pigs for a sow, 97
• Number in a litter, 68

• Origin of improved breeds, 13
• Oxfordshire pigs, 23, 27

• Parsnips for pigs, 89
• Parti-coloured pigs, cause of, 115
• Peat moss litter, 104
• Persistence of erysipelas virus, 161
• Pig calendar, 148
• Pig fattening, 132
• Pig keeping in orchards, 128
• "   "   " woods, 128
• Pigment, excess of, 179
• Pig pillows, 65
• Pig shacking, 153
• Pigs suffering from heat, 124
• Plenty of teats, 67
• Potatoes for pigs, 89
• Poulticing pigs' feet, 164
• Practical v. show points, 41
• Prepotency of dam, 55
• "   " sire, 55
• Prolificacy, 42
• " indications of, 67
• " value of, 42
• Pure breeds, 26

• Quality of bone, 60

• Rabies, 162
• Rape for pigs, 89
• Rearing of young pigs, 97
• Recorded pedigree insufficient, 44
• Rectum, inversion of, 164
• Registering produce, 42
• Remaking sow's bed, 83
• Rickets in pigs, 166
• Ring pigs, 61
• Rollers for fat pigs, 117
• Round white worms, 168
• Rudgwick pigs, 21
• Rupture in pigs hereditary, 88
• Ruptured boar, 61

• Salt poisoning, 169
• Santonine as a cure for worms, 168
• Scrotal hernia, 162
• Seedy bellies, 177
• Selection of boar, 53
• "   " sow, 63
• Separated milk for little pigs, 100
• Sheeted pigs, 22
• Size in boars, 59
• " of pigs' ears, 60
• Skim milk and tuberculosis, 167
• Slaughter classes, 118
• Small black breed, 18
• Small joints wanted, 66
• Small testicles, 61
• Smoke ovens, 177
• Smoking bacon, 177
• Soft pork, 135
• Sore-tailed pigs, 86
• Sore teats, 169
• Sow's udder, 67
• Spaying sow pigs, 151
• Sty facing east, 108
• "   " north, 108
• "   " south, 108
• "   " west, 108
• Sugar in pork curing, 177
• Sussex pigs, 21
• Swayback pigs, 166
• Swine erysipelas, 161
• Swine fever, 158
• "   " virus, 160

• Tares for pigs, 152
• Tender feet, 164
• Trichinosis, 168
• Tuberculosis in pigs, 167
• Tuberculosis in pigs not hereditary, 167
• Tuberculosis meat unhealthy, 167

• Udder, the sow's, 67
• Undersized teats, 70
• Uniformity in a herd, 44
• "   " young pigs, 43
• Unwieldly sows, 65
• Utility points, 42

• Value of feeding qualities, 59
• Value of whey, 152
• Variation in virulence of infectious diseases, 161
• Varying food, 136
• Vegetable food for pigs, 89, 135, 150

• Weaning pigs, 89
• Wheat meal, 136
• White peas for little pigs, 100
• White-skinned pigs for bacon, 106, 179
• Worms, 168