The Bulletin. 



57 



Many farmers and stations have found cowpeas to be an excellent crop for 

 hogs, although no one claims that they afford as much grazing to the acre as 

 do peanuts and soy beans. At the Mississippi station cowpea pasture was 

 grazed without grain. In 1903, although the crop was grown on thin land, 

 one acre of cowpeas produced 360 pounds of pork. In 1904 the crop was 

 grown on good valley land and produced 483 pounds of pork to the acre. The 

 hogs were turned on the crop when the peas were ripe. Better results would 

 no doubt have been secured if the animals had been given the run of the field 

 about two weeks before the maturity of the peas. 



In 1906 the Mississippi substation turned 8 sows with their 30 pigs into a 

 red clover pasture of 3% acres on March 20, the red clover having been sown 

 the previous fall. This furnished ample grazing until August 20, when they 

 were turned into a iy^-sicve lot of corn and peas. The 30 pigs were killed 

 out of this pasture November 1 without the addition of any other feed and 

 dressed 117 pounds each, at an average age of 196 days. The pigs ate ap- 

 proximately 6 bushels of corn each. When land rent is estimated at $5 an 

 acre, corn at 70 cents a bushel, and the cost of seeding the red clover is also 

 taken into account, each pig cost $4.98. 



It is getting to be a common practice in the Middle States, where cowpeas 

 thrive well, to plant the peas in the corn at the last cultivation and graze the 

 hogs on both crops. This method saves a great amount of labor, and the 

 waste of corn is very small indeed if small pigs are given the run of the field 

 after the fattening animals are taken off; in fact, the loss of corn is not as 

 great as is usually the case when hired help gathers it. 



Probably soy beans and peanuts afford the very best obtainable summer, 

 fall, and early winter grazing crops. This, at least, has been the writer's 

 experience. These two crops may be planted in the early part of the summer 

 and be ready for grazing from 80 to 100 days after planting; this, however,, 

 depends upon the variety of seed used, the character of soil, etc. Anyway, 

 if they are planted upon the same date the soy beans should be grazed first 

 and the peanuts immediately afterward. 



The following tests show how valuable these two crops are: 



Table 3— PEANUTS AND SOY BEANS AS PASTURES FOR HOGS. 



Experi- 

 ment 



2H 



Ration 



Corn alone. 



Corn, 1/4 



Soy bean pasture. 



Corn. 1/2 



Soy bean pasture. 



Corn, 3/4 



Soy bean pasture. 



Corn alone 



Corn, 1/2 



Peanut pasture. 



Corn. 4/5 

 Tank., 1/5 



1/2. 



Average 

 Daily 

 Gains 



.38 



1.1 



1.0 



1.3 

 .33 



1.25 



Peanut pasture... ! 1 .42 



Peanut pasture 1.00 



Feed to 



Make 100 



Pounds 



of Pork 



.13 acre 

 .22 acre 



Cost to Make 

 100 Lbs. of Pork 



Corn 



609 corn $7.61 $7.61 



.12 acre 2.19 



776 corn 9 .58 



134 corn 



.13 acre ! 1.68 



111 corn 



28 tank. ' 1 .95 



Corn and 

 Pasture 



3.17 

 9.58 



3.08 



2.96 



1.76 



Value 



1 Acre 



in Terms 



of Corn 



Saved 



63 bu. 



65 bu. 



34 bu. 



476 lb. tank. 

 62 bu. 



