REPORT OF MR. ANGUS MACKAY 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



SuMii.vRY of Financial result of the Transaction. 



449 



* Or an average cet gain of $5.58 per head. 



HORSES. 



There are 13 horses, young and old, on the farm at present. Two of these are 

 very old and of not much service, one of them having been brought up from Ontario 

 when the farm was started in 1S87. 



During the summer, one of the driving horses died, and has not yet been re- 

 placed. 



Last spring a fine colt was born, which keeps the number of horses the same as 

 last year. 



SWINE. 



Three breeds are kept. — Berkshire, Tamworth and Yorkshire White. The two firjt 

 breeds have done much the best the past season. 



Since sending in my last report, 1 Berkshire boar and 1 sow, and 3 Tamworth boars 

 and 3 sows have been sold to farmers for breeding purposes. 



At the present date, November 30, there are 17 Berkshire, 19 Tamworth and 2 

 Yorksliire White pigs on the farm. 



TEST OE PASTURING HOGS ON RAPE. 



In compliance with a reqiiest of Dr. Elliott, Minister of Agriculture for the North- 

 west Territories, a test was made during the past season of feeding some swine on rape, 

 with the addition of a small quantity of meal. 



One acre of corn land, ploughed the previous fall and harrowed, was sown with three 

 pounds of rape seed, in drills 28 inches apart, on June 1. A good catch resulted and 

 the rape made rapid growth. Up to July 19 the acre was scufHed twice, and all weeds 

 in rows taken out by hoe. On July 19, a wire hog-fence was put around the lot, and 

 a cross fence in the centre, cutting the acre in two. At this date the rape was meeting 

 in the rows, when 10 pigs — 5 Berkshire and 5 Tamworth grades were put in one of tha 

 half acres. Finding the pigs were making no impression on the rape, 7 pure bred 

 Tamworths were added on July 23, when the test commenced. 



The pigs were weighed when put in on September 23 and October 23, making a 

 three months test. When taken from the half acre on October 23, one-third of the 

 rape was still nearly meeting in the rows, and was afterwards eaten off by cattle. 



During the first two months the swine were given 2,080 pounds of meal (oats 

 and barley, half of each), which is equal to a little less than two pounds per head per 

 day; in the third month they consumed 1,780 pounds, which equals three and a half 

 pounds per head per day. Whether the rape had attained too rank a growth or not, 

 before the pigs were put on, I cannot say, but during the entire period very little was 



16—29 



