54 



raised to the age of six weeks at $1.50 each, making some allowance for items not 

 considered in the experiment described. 



J. H. Grisdale, Central Experimental Farm, Canada, estimates that a breeding 

 sow can be maintained during a whole year at from $12.00 to $15.00, under care- 

 ful management, and produce two litters during the year. This approximates, 

 very closely, the Ontario results, which, omitting service fee, make the cost of 

 maintaining a sow half a year, and one litter of pigs for six weeks, $7.24. 



Since the above calculations were made, there has been a very material 

 increase in the cost of feeds, but if we add 50 per cent, to the cost of maintenance 

 all round, the cost of a pig six weeks old is about $1.85, which is a very moderate 

 cost, 



FATTENING. 



Many of the problems connected with the fattening of hogs have already been 

 discussed under experiment station work. Corn may be used much more freely 

 for fattening hogs than for those intended for breeding, but experiments show 

 conclusively that corn has its limitations, even for fattening, and that it is greatly 

 improved by having some feed richer in protein combined with it. The importance 

 of using some sort of supplementary feed with almost any meal ration in order to 

 give bulk and variety has also been demonstrated, and the important place which 

 pasture may play in the fattening of hogs has been quite fully dealt with. There 

 are a few general facts of more or less importance remaining to be given under this 

 heading. 



Winter Feeding. — Generally speaking, winter feeding is more expensive 

 than summer feeding. Part of the extra feed required in winter is probably due to 

 the fact that more feed is required to keep up the heat of the body during cold 

 weather. There is little doubt, however, that much of the advantage of summer 

 feeding is due to more sanitary surroundings — that is, more fresh air and out- 

 door exercise, coupled with more succulent feed, which seems to aid digestion. The 

 man who feeds hogs in winter, therefore, should aim to approach summer con- 

 ditions as nearly as possible. He cannot get summer temperature, it is true, but 

 he can provide a fair amount of fresh air, and feeds that will keep the digestive 

 organs in good condition. It is just here that a man who grows a few roots for 

 winter feeding has a great advantage over the man who does not. Skim-milk, 

 buttermilk, and alfalfa may also be made to perform a useful part in giving 

 variety and aiding the digestive organs to perform their functions properly. 



Quantity of Feed — The test of the skill of the feeder is his ability to 

 keep just slightly within the appetite of the animals under his charge. He must 

 watch the animals closely and see that they clean up with apparent relish all that 

 he gives them. Feed left in the trough is a sign that something is wrong with the 

 methods employed, and to have to cut back in the quantity of feed means a loss of 

 time. The quantity should be so gauged that there is a gradual increase as fatten- 

 ing advances, and radical changes, either in quantity or kind, should be avoided. 

 To be successful, the feeder must learn the lesson that all changes should be made 

 gradually, and that undue haste in fattening may mean serious delay in the process, 

 together with a waste of feed. 



Regularity and Comfort. — Regularity in time of feeding is necessary 

 to regularity in the appetite of the animal. The animal which is fed at the same 

 hours every day will take more feed with less danger of surfeiting than the one fed 

 at any time to suit the convenience of the feeder. 



