200 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



PART III. 



Notes on Management. 



Cooking. — Beans can be fed to swine only in the cooked form. The 

 pig seems to be unable to utilize beans which are at all hard or firm, 

 even though they have been boiled for some time, hence it is very essen- 

 tial that they be thoroughly cooked. To supply a single feed of half- 

 cooked beans to a pen of hogs, robs them of their appetites and relish 

 for their food, if indeed it does not put them off feed. The cooking 

 should be conducted in an even more careful manner than it would be 

 in preparing them for human food. It will materially shorten the 

 cooking period and give better results, if the beans are soaked an 

 hour or two, or better, over night, before the cooking proper is begun. 



The amount of water used will be governed somewhat by the way the 

 beans are to be fed, whether they are to be mixed with other feeds or 

 fed alone. In either case the water content of the ration should not 

 be above the bodily requirement of the pigs fed. In fact, it is usually 

 better to have the water content of the ration below the daily require- 

 ment of the pig and then allow the pig access to water at will or supply 

 it regularly. When the food is excessively sloppy, the pig is compelled 

 to consume unnaturally large amounts of the ration given in order to 

 properly supply his bodily needs. This distends the stomach, unbal- 

 ances the whole digestive system and make a paunchy, ill-formed pig, 

 and one which, at slaughtering time, yields a very low per cent of dressed 

 carcass. Such feeding is neither good practice nor good economy. 



Two ways for cooking are used here at the College. The one by in- 

 jecting live steam into a barrel containing the food to be cooked, the 

 other by the use of the ordinary feed cooker, consisting of a caldron 

 kettle with a castiron stove as a jacket for the. same. A large variety 

 of cookers of similar sorts are upon the market. In cooking small 

 amounts, the kettle gave the better results, while the steam was more 

 convenient for larger quantities. 



Foreign Material. — All refuse grains contains more or less foreign 

 material. Cull beans are no exception to the general rule; perhaps the 

 most objectionable ingredient being the gravel stones. In some samples 

 there was from five to ten per cent of gravel stones. These are not only 

 an annoyance in cooking, but their feeding value must be rated as low 

 as any other possible ingredient. By the use of a hand fanning mill 

 adapted for bean cleaning, a considerable portion of the stones may be 

 eliminated. 



Salt. — In the use of salt with pigs to which salt has not been sup- 

 plied regularly care must be taken to offer it in small quantities at first. 

 When supplied suddenly or in excessive quantities very serious, or 

 even disastrous consequences may follow. Always keeping this caution 

 in mind, it will be found advantageous to use some salt with every mess 

 of beans cooked, about the same amount as would be used for human 

 food would probably be sufficient. 



Salt is an apf>etizer and renders the food more palatable. It also 

 possesses laxative properties and on this account will be found valuable 

 to use in connection with any ration containing beans. 



