260 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Algust 12, 1916. 



THE BREEDING AND FEEDING OF PIGS 



FOR BACON FACTORY PURPOSES. 



It has been mentioned before in this Journal that there 

 exi.sts at Salisbury, in Southern Rhodesia, a large bacon 

 factory which purchases pigs from farmers situated in that 

 country. A similar establishment has been suggested for 

 the West Indies, but circumstances, up to the present, have 

 not been sufficiently favourable to enable any definite steps 

 to be taken. In time, however, they may, and attention 

 should be called to a valuable article which appears in the 

 Bhodesia AgrkuUimd Journal for April 1916, containing 

 instructions as to the best methods of breeding and feeding 

 pigs intended for sale at such a factory. It will be understood 

 that a different type of animal is required for bacon purposes 

 than for the- production of pork and lard. The article in 

 question keeps this fact well in view, and begins first of all 

 with a description of a side of bacon, indicating the relative 

 value of the various cuts. 



The bacon pig itself, when ready for the market, should 

 possess a long, deep body, with a straight or slightly arching 

 top, and straight underline. The shoulder should be fairly 

 upright, joined closely to the body, and nicely rounded over 

 the top. The body should not be any thicker through the 

 shoulder at any point more than half way up from the 

 underline to the top line than through points at a similar 

 height situated between the shoulders and the ham. Des- 

 cribed shortly, a straight-edge laid against the side from the 

 shoulder point to near the tail should touch at every 

 point. The ribs should spring out well from the spinal 

 column and should make a deep-bodied rather than a round- 

 bodied animal. The legs should be good and clean, straight- 

 boned, while the neck should be of medium thickness with 

 no tendency to coarseness. The average live weight of a pig 

 intended for the bacon factory should be from 150 to 200 ft. 

 Large and coarse pigs give only second class produce. 



As regards the breeds of pigs suitable for bacon, the 

 article calls .special attention to the Berk.shire, the large 

 Yorkshire, the middle Yorkshire, the small Yorkshire, the 

 Tamworth, and the Large Black. It is .stated that the Large 

 Black appears to be admirably adapted to the climate of 

 Rhodesia, which is subtropical. Being late in maturing, 

 this breed crosses well with the Berkshire and other early 

 maturing breeds. Indeed, since the establishment of the 

 British South Africa Company's factory in Salisbury, the 

 most satisfactory cross has been found to be the progeny 

 of Large Black sows and ISerkshire boars. The cross results 

 in increased stamina, and increased proportion of lean meat as 

 compared with the pure Berkshire, and earlier maturity than 

 in the pure Large I'lack. 



After dealing with other crosses, the article goes on to 

 consider the management of pigs, dealing with the subject as 

 regards the boar, the sow and young pigs. It is stated that 

 the boar should never be allowed to fall off in condition, but 

 should never be overfed. The same applies to the management 

 of the .sow, but this animal should be provided with plenty of 

 nutritious food after farrowing. A large amount of instruction 

 is given in regard to the management of young pigs, and the 

 reader interested is referred to the article under consideration 

 for details. 



Turning to the feeding of the animals, it is emphasized 

 that, as in breeding so in feeding the object must be to 

 produce quality. Then follow some general ob.servations on 

 the feeding of [)igs which appear worth ciuoling : 'To one 

 ■who wishes to become exjicrt in the feeding of pigs or any 

 kind of animal, nothing can take the place of daily practice 

 and experience; at the same time a short study of the scien- 



tific side of the question of animal nutrition will be found to 

 be extremely helpful. It will enable one to think and 

 experiment more intelligently, and in most cases will 

 materially add both to one's interest in the work and to the 

 profits to be derived. Science with practice is of infinite 

 value, but one must never forget that animals are not 

 machines, that they have individual tastes, appetites and 

 dispositions much like hUman beings. The expert and 

 successful feeder is one who can endow every animal in his 

 care with a personality, who can watch and understand its 

 ways and habits, and who constantly provides not only for 

 its bare supply of food, but for its varying whims and 

 fancies. Those unaccustomed to animals will smile at this 

 statement, but the writer feels confident that it will be 

 endorsed by any and every successful feeder of animals.' 



Attention is then given to the nutritive ratio of difterent 

 foods, that is to say, the proportion of nitrogenous substance 

 to carbohydrates and fats. 'Thus when we say the nutritive 

 ratio of niiwze is 1;8, it is understood that maize contains 



1 part of digestible flesh-forming substance to 8 parts of 

 digestible heat-, fat-, and energy-forming material. The 

 proximate composition of some twenty ditt'erent vegetable 

 foodstuft's is considered, including some of those commonly 

 employed in the West Indies, such as maize, velvet beans, 

 ground nuts, sweet potatoes, and grass. The nutritive ratio 

 of velvet beans is 1:2'.'5, while that of sweet potatoes is 

 1:28-8. These figures clearly indicate the relative richness 

 of velvet beans in flesh-forraing material compared with 

 sweet potatoes, which are very poor in nitrogen, but neverthe- 

 less valuable in their own way in a ration for pigs. 



A number of sample rations are given, and one or two 

 of these may be noted. For heavy brood sows in pig, when 

 on moderate grazing, the following ration has been found to 

 answer .satisfactorily: sweet potitoes Ifi., maize 1 ft., ground 

 nuts 1 ft. When very little grazing of anj- kind is available: 

 .skim milk 10 ft., sweet potatoes 6 ft., maize 2 ft. When no 

 milk is available, as will probably be the case in the West Indies, 

 the following is suggested: maize 3 ft., beans 1 ft., and pump- 

 kins or other cheap succulent food up to about 10 ft. daily. For 

 young pigs from two and a half to four months old, running 

 on fairly good pasture, the following may be given: potatoes 



2 ft., ground nuts | ft., maize J-ft., pum])kins 5 ft. It may be 

 pointed out here that l*]nglish potatoes and sweet potatoes differ 

 widely in composition. The nutritive value of the English 

 potato is 1:I4'4, whereas, as already stated, that of the sweet 

 potato is ]:2S'8, which shows that English potatoes contain 

 relatively a greater amount of Hesh-forming material. So 

 that if sweet potatoes are u.sed in place of English potatoe.s, 

 it will be necessary to increa.se the amount of nitrogenous 

 foodstuff in the ration. For pigs from four to six months 

 old, the following ration is suggested: potatoes 6 ft., ground 

 nuts 1 ft., maize 2 ft., plus grazing or ample supply of 

 pumpkins, etc. 



As regards crops for pig feeding, .special reference is 

 made to maize velvet beans, sweet potatoe.s, pumpkins (or 

 majordas). These latter are described as being the most 

 valuable food for pigs, and one of the cheapest means of 

 providing succulent food. The seeds of pum()kins are very 

 nutritious, and they tend to check the invasion of worms. 

 These vegetables give the best results when fed raw. 



The sweet potato is described as an easily grown and pro- 

 fitable crop, forming in Rhodesia a nourishing and succulent 

 food at a time of the year when succulent food is scarce. Sweet 

 potatoes are particularly convenient for planting in small 

 areas for pigs to harvest themselves. As regards velvet 

 beans, this plant is described as a heavy cropper, useful 



