My Way with Hogs. — Among the different ways of checking the rooting propensity in hogs is to " cut and parti ally detach a part of the rim of the snout, leaving the part which is detached ad hering at the extremities, and hanging over the end of the nose." But this is a most barbarous practice, and a man guilty of it should be complained of for cruelty. That prominent rim is from one to two inches long, according to the size of the hog, and is the only part with which the animal can feel, and a close observer will notice that a hog always touches his food with that " rim " before he begins to eat. Therefore, to cut or mutilate the rim, to say nothing of cruelty, is to deprive the creature of the sense of feeling which is so essential to his improvement, and will be done at the expense of the corn-crib: To prevent a hog from rooting, put two wire rings, one on each side of the promi nent gristle in close proximity to it ; draw the two ends of the wire together, leaving it in. the form of an ox-bow ; twist the ends, leaving the rings bow shaped in the middle, and tarn the twisted ends of the wire up towards the eyes. This leaves the rim of the nose entirely at liberty, and should the hog attempt to root, the rings will come in contact with the earth, and the hog will immediately desist. I have fattened hogs for half a century, and 1 do not recollect a case of sickness among them, when they had these wire rings properly placed in their noses, and the issues on the inside of the fore legs were kept open, except, perhaps, a few cases of the kidney worm. The issues on the inside of the fore legs often become closed in consequence of dirt getting mixed with the secretions that exude from such issues, which sometimes hermetically seals them; and generally nothing more is necessary than to rub, them thoroughly with a corn cob, which will open them sufficiently. — A Chautavqua Farmer.
