DESCRIPTION OF EXPERIMENT STATION PIGGERY. By H. E. Van Norman. The new piggery is located on the highest ground in lot C. of field 3, as shown on the farm map, corrected to November, 1898. The building occupies the south part of the lot and faces north. The main part of the building is 22 by 46 feet outside. The long way north and south. On each side is a wing 12 by 14 feet. From the front door a central alley, 6 feet wide, extends the entire length of the building. On the right of this alley the first 18 feet is given up to feed chutes, mixing vat, scales for weighing experimental feed, water hydrant and a 5x6 foot Howe stock scale. The remainder of the space on this side of the alley is divided into four feeding pens, each 7x8 feet. Beginning at the front door, on the left, is a stairway leading to the second floor. Next, a room 8x11 feet, extending under the stairway, is fitted for an attendant to be comfortable at night, if necessary for him to stay with a farrowing sow. This room contains a stove and boiler for heating water and cooking feeds and it also affords place for pails, brooms, etc., and has a brick. chimney. The next space, 9x8 feet, is ceiled up to the ceiling, making a tight warm room for sows to furrow in. A window opens into the attendant's room. The remaining space on this side of the alley is divided into four pens, 7x8 feet, corresponding to the west side. The wings on either side are divided into two pens 7x12 feet, are used for sleeping pens and open into the first two feeding pens. For the remaining pens sleeping quarters are provided in small shelter houses in each lot. The front part. 22x32 feet, of the main building is two stories high, affording storage room for bedding, crates and bin room for feed. The remainder of the building, including wings, is one story high. The foundation is of brick, 8 inches thick, and 18 inches deep. with the top just above the ground. The sills are 4x8 inches, No. 1 pine, while the studs are 2x6 inch No. 1 hemlock, 14 feet long, for the two story part, 2x4 inch 7 feet long for the one story part and 41⁄2 feet long for the wings. On the studding of the wings are nailed plain boards. On these is put No. 3 tarred building paper, over which the yellow pine drop siding is nailed. The remainder of the building has the same drop siding without any lining. The rafters are laid 2 feet apart, from center to center, and are No. I hemlock, 2x4 inches, 16 fet long. The plate is 2x6 inch No. 1 hemlock, with 2x4 inch hemlock on top, the two spiked together. The rafters are tied with cross braces 3 feet below the comb of the roof. There is also one tie rod through the center of the building to hold the plates from spreading. The floor of the main building is of cement three inches thick. The bottom 2 inches is grout made with Louisville cement, while the top inch is made with Portland cement. There are two gutters extending the length of the feeding pens, just inside of the front partition and emptying into the tile drains at the south end of the building. There are three windows on the east side, two in each end and the west side and one on each north and south side of the wings. These windows are all transom shape, having four panes of glass IOX12 inches, and hinged on the bottom side, opening in. The second story front has two windows of standard shape and size. There is also a door to receive feed onto this floor. The front door downstairs is double, each being 3x6 feet. The rear door is 4x6 feet. The partitions between the pens are three feet high, made of x6 inch hard pine flooring, nailed vertically on 2x4 inch oak stringers. The front partition on the west of the alley is the same as that between the pens, while the east side front is put on horizontally. The bottom four boards are cleated together and make a door which hung from the top permits it to be swung in to facilitate cleaning the floor and gutter. Each pen has a door opening into the alley. These are plain. batten doors uniform with the partitions. At the rear of each pen a door opens into the sleeping quarters, or lot, as the case may be. These are slide doors and are lifted by means of a rope running over pulleys to the front of the pen. Each pen has a galvanized iron, half round feeding trough. These troughs are 5 feet long, one foot wide, and 6 inches deep, are bound together with angle iron and have two strips of strap iron across the top to prevent spreading. These troughs are hinged to the front partiton on the west side of the alley and to the swinging partition on the east side of the alley. This arrangement permits the easy cleaning of the floor and gutter. The grain bin occupies a space 32x8 feet on the second floor. It is 4 feet deep and has a cover. From the second floor line the front of the bin continues down to within 3 feet of the floor and 6 inches from the wall, leaving an opening 6 inches wide and 8 feet long. Six inches below this opening is a box 2 feet wide and 8 feet long, into which the feed empties, and from which it may be scooped out. This bin is divided into four compartments by means of three partitions extending from the top of the bin to the box below. In these bins all the feed will come down within reach of the feeder's scoop as it is removed from below. On the roof of the building there is a cupola, with ventilating blinds. Extending from below the ceiling of the first story up into this cupola is a ventilating shaft 10x10 inches. It has a slide cut off to regulate the draft. The building is fully equipped with gutters, down-spouts, and drainage. The building is so placed as to be centrally located among a series of feeding lots, all of which are connected with the building by lanes leading up to it. Each lot contains a small house for sleeping quarters. See plate XIV. Water is piped into the building from a central supply tank. This building is not necessarily a model for the feeder or breeder of hogs, as it was designed to meet the needs of the Experiment Station in its experimental feeding work. The general construction, however, offers numerous helpful suggestions to the pig feeder, and from the sanitary and economic standpoints it presents a very desirable type of construction. Many details are the result of consultation and correspondence with some of the most successful swine breeders in the United States, and in so far as any of the details may meet the needs of the farmers or breeders, they are models, though the arrangement of the building as a whole may not be. APPENDIX. The following gifts have been made to the Station during the year, and to the givers of these, thanks are herewith rendered:W. H. Caldwell, Sec'y, Petersboro, N. H., Herd Register American Guernsey Cattle Club, Vol. 8. F. L. Houghton, Sec'y, Brattleboro, Vt., Vol. XV, Holstein-Friesian Herd Book of America. Alfred Mansell, Sec'y, Shrewsbury, England. Vol. XVI, English Shropshire Flock Book. Carl Friegau, Sec'y, Dayton, Ohio. Vol. XX, Ohio Poland China Record. A. P. Grout, Winchester, Ill. One Collie dog. J. McLain Smith, Sec'y, Dayton, Ohio. Vol. X, Red Polled Cattle Herd Book. C. R. Thomas, Sec'y, Independence, Mo. Vol. XIX, American Hereford Record. Frank B. Hearne, Sec'y, Independence, Mo. Vols. V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, American Galloway Cattle Herd Book. Robert J. Evans, Sec'y, El Paso, Ill. Vols. I, II, III, IV, National Duroc-Jersey Record. A. V. Bradrick, Sec'y, Connersville, Ind. Vol. VIII, American DurocJersey Record. Herbert A. Jones, Sec'y, Himrods, N. Y. Vol. A, International Ohio Improved Chester White Swine Record. Farmers' Guide Pub. Co., Huntington, Ind., Bound Copy of Vol IX, Farmers' Guide for 1897. Propaganda for the Use of Nitrate of Soda, New York City. Two sacks nitrate of soda. Edward Sudendorf, Ag't, Elgin, Ill. One quart Wells-Richardson Butter color. W. Atlee Burpee. Philadelphia, Pa. Collection of varieties of flower and vegetable seeds. B. F.Harris, Dull, Tenn. Package Harris' Earliest Watermelon seed. S. J. Lehman & Co., Enon, Ind. 25 Lehman's No. 2 strawberry plant. American Stock Food Co., Chicago, Ill. 100 lbs. American stock food. Crown Mfg Co., Phelps, N. Y. Repairs for Crown drill. Henry E. Dooch, Sec'y, Portland, Oregon. Fifth Biennial Report Oregon State Board of Horticulture. L. A. Godman, Sec'y. Westport, Mo. 41st Annual report Missouri State Horticultural Society. German Kali Syndicate, New York City. Muriate of potash. Wm. Henry Maule, Philadelphia, Pa. New seeding potato, No. XXX. C. W. Middleton, Utica, Mo. 12 Livingston, Raspberry plants. Luther Burbank, Santa Rosa, Cal. Scions of Apple Plum, American Plum and Chalco Plum. W. J. Hurst, Muncie, Ind. Seedling potatoes. C. S. Pratt, Reading. Mass. 12 samples strawberry plants. J. H. Marion, Fulton, Mo. Seeds and scions of native persimmon. |