10 FORAGE CROPS FOR HOGS IN KANSAS AND OKLAHOMA. 



To avoid the expense of cutting or grinding, some farmers in order 

 to get the hay all eaten have soaked it in water and fed it. This has 

 23roved very satisfactory where tried. One Oklahoma farmer carried 

 his. hogs through a winter by feeding them alfalfa leaves soaked in 

 hot water for one day and the next day shorts mixed with the 

 pulp and water. He feeds much alfalfa hay to his hogs and is very 

 successful with them. He puts the last cutting in shock as soon as 

 wilted, and thus cures it without bleaching and feeds it to his hogs. 

 Another farmer carried his entire herd of hogs through the winter 

 by feeding them the pulp of alfalfa hay after soaking it in water over 

 night. He also gave them the water to drink. This was all the feed 

 they had during the winter, and they were in good flesh in the spring, 

 with smooth glossy coats of hair. A Kansas farmer was feeding a 

 bunch of 50 fall pigs on corn ; during the w^inter they got off feed 

 and were not thrifty. He reduced the corn and gave a ration of two- 

 thirds chopped alfalfa hay and one-third corn meal, the two soaked 

 together. The hogs began to do better, and a little later he changed 

 the ration to one-third alfalfa and two-thirds corn. The results 

 were very satisfactory, and the cost of feed was reduced from $15 a 

 month on corn to $9 a month on alfalfa and corn. So alfalfa hay, as 

 well as pasture, has a very important use on a hog farm. 



WHEAT. 



In northern Oklahoma and southern Kansas fall wheat is a staple 

 crop. It is generally seeded from the middle of September to the 

 first of October. The seeding is usually 1^ to 1^ bushels per acre. If 

 the ground has been well prepared and the fall is not too dry, this 

 will have made a good growth by the time alfalfa pasture is begin- 

 ning to fail, along in November. The season here usually remains 

 open until Christmas, so that six weeks of very good pasture are 

 furnished. Some winters are so open that the wheat remains green 

 most of the winter and stock find pasture all winter. The spring 

 opens up by the last of February and the wheat gets green again in 

 March. By judicious pasturing, not pasturing too heavily or when 

 the ground is muddy, much green feed may be had without injury to 

 the wheat. The farmers here have taken advantage of this, and 

 where they have their wheat fields fenced hog tight they turw the hogs 

 from the alfalfa field to the wheat field in November and leave them 

 there during the winter unless the wheat gets too short or the ground 

 becomes muddy. The hogs remain in the wheat until April and do 

 well with very little grain. At this time they can go back to the 

 alfalfa field again. Thus, green pasture is furnished the year round. 



Ill— IV 



