226 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



ing hogs should have a protein-rich feed, in order to develop the 

 vital organs to the greatest possible extent, by feeding. 



As to long or short periods for growing and finishing the mar- 

 ket hog, both systems are followed by successful farmers in Mis- 

 souri. For the short period, the March and April pig is grown 

 rapidly and marketed in six to ten months of age ; while the long 

 period pig is grown through the summer and winter, and marketed 

 the following spring or fall. As to which method is the most 

 profitable may depend upon local conditions, feeds, condition of hogs 

 at marketing, and price obtained. Under ordinary conditions, I be- 

 lieve the short feeding period or marketing at six to ten months of 

 age to be the more profitable. It costs, according to work done by 

 the Wyoming Experiment Station, to maintain a sow on as cheap 

 feed as alfalfa hay and beets, 2.7 cents per day. We may reason, 

 then, that for maintenance alone it will cost from 2 to 3 cents per 

 day for pigs, then, every day cut off by finishing at an early age, 

 means doing away with this added expense. We also note from the 

 data already given that the cost of producing a pound of gain in- 

 creased as the pig advanced in age. The risk in growing the pig 

 for a longer period is also greater. No one can expect to maintain 

 a very large number of pigs until 12 to 18 months of age without 

 some loss, and in case of hog cholera breaking out in the neighbor- 

 hood, the shorter fed more nearly matured hogs will be more nearly 

 ready for the market, and can be disposed of immediately. It is 

 true that the pigs of the other class can also be sold on the market, 

 but at a decided disadvantage as compared with the former. 



In farmers' bulletin No. 172, W. J. Spillman gives an account 

 of a method of farm management, in which no hog is marketed 

 under one year of age. The system is essentially as follows : The 

 sows farrow once a year — fore part of April — and are given, along 

 with their litters, clover forage, supplemented with 3 pounds of 

 corn per sow and litter, which is increased until they are receiving 

 17 pounds by fall, when the pigs have reached a weight of 100 to 

 125 pounds. During the winter the pigs are fed soy bean hay, and 

 an average of about five pounds of grain per day, reaching a weight 

 of 200 to 22o pounds each by spring. As soon as the clover pasture 

 is available in the spring, they are pastured and received in ad- 

 dition 2V-2 pounds gain daily in the beginning, to four pounds at 

 August 1st, when they have reached the weight of 325 to 350 

 pounds, and are ready for the market. 



This seems about as good a feeding system as one could devise, 

 and yet upon closer inspection, it would seem that the profits do 



