earlier and avoiding danger
of loss during this time. That it produces pork of highest quality, the
meat being fine in flavor, firm, and with lean and fat well distributed.

Advocates of the self-feeding plan make the following comparison with
the old-time slop-feeding method:

When dry food is supplied in automatic feeders, the attendant may fill
the feeders at any convenient time of day and that at intervals of
several days. In slop feeding, the meals must be prepared and fed twice
daily, usually when other duties are pressing and time especially
valuable.

When dry, ground grains are kept before the hogs at all times, they eat
when they feel the need of food and are not liable to overeat at any
time. Because of the dry character of the feed, they eat slowly,
masticating the food thoroughly and mixing it with saliva. This means
more thorough digestion and an absence of indigestion and bowel
troubles. And, of course, quicker growth.

Slop-fed hogs, on the other hand, get very hungry between meals. At
feeding time they pile up around the troughs, the stronger rushing and
pushing away the weaker ones, those that really need the feed the most.
Then they bolt the food without chewing it, taking all they can hold and
leaving little for those that cannot find a place at the "first table."

The quality of the dry-fed pork has been mentioned. Equally important,
from the standpoint of the butcher, is the loss in dressing of hogs.
Tests have shown that slop-fed stock loses six to eight pounds more per
hundredweight than does the dry-fed.

[Illustration: ~BERKSHIRE BOAR~]

Another big advantage of dry-feeding lies in the fact that large numbers
of swine, including those of various ages and sizes, can be safely kept
in one herd. The writer has seen over two hundred head of swine, ranging
in size from pigs just weaned to 250-pound porkers ready for market,
living in peace and contentment in one building, eating and sleeping and
sharing the forage pastures together. Of course this means a big saving
in buildings and fencing and a great reduction in the amount of
necessary labor.

The self-feeder may be used all through the life of the hog, beginning
when the pigs are still nursing and continuing until they reach market
weight. During all this time the ration should contain Pratts Hog Tonic,
the guaranteed hog conditioner, in order that at all times the herd may
be maintained in vigorous condition, be kept free from disease,