Pork Production With Forage Crops. 261 



then have developed a large root system and large stalk, which will en- 

 able it to withstand more severe pasturing. 



It is often difficult to get hogs to eat rape at first if they have not 

 been accustomed to it. For this reason it is not looked upon with favor 

 by some breeders. Its value as a forage crop, however, has been proven 

 by experiments carried on by the Missouri Experiment Station and the 

 Wisconsin and the Michigan Experiment Stations. It has been shown 

 to have a feeding value, when combined with corn and shorts, equivalent 

 to 2,436 pounds of grain and a money value of $19.49 per acre. AVhen 

 the cost of seeding is considered, rape proves valuable for pasture, as the 

 seed can usually be bought for eight cents per pound and four to six. 

 pounds per acre is all that is needed. Rape is a rank grower and hea\'y 

 feeder and should only be sown in rich soils. It does not give the best 

 results on thin, worn-out soils. 



Considerable complaint is often made because of the sores and 

 scabs which often form on the hogs. Sometimes the skin has the ap- 

 pearance of being blistered. Especially is this true of white hogs. The 

 remedy is to move the hogs to another pasture for a part of the time 

 and dip the hogs or apply sulphur and lard to the sores. 



During the past two years the Missouri Experiment Station has 

 found that, generally speaking, for hogs on rape, oats and clover, there 

 is required about 2.6 pounds of corn to produce a pound gain, when fed 

 to the extent of producing three-quarters pound gain per hundred- 

 weight per day. For the first ten weeks of the forage season on rape, 

 oats and clover in 1909 the average amount of corn required to produce 

 a pound gain was 2.58 pounds, or, in other M'ords, every bushel of corn 

 that was fed on this lot up to August 10th produced 21.7 pomids of 

 pork, which at six cents per pound w^ould make the corn worth $1.30 

 per bushel. This, however, does not take into account the rental value 

 of the land. Deducting the rental value and taxes o.f the land ($4.00), 

 the value of corn per bushel would .be $1.12. 



RYE GRAIN. 



The most profitable systems of agriculture are those systems so 

 planned that the animals fed will harvest their own grain crops and 

 forage crops. The amount of labor required under such systems will be 

 reduced, the manure evenly distributed on the land with the least 

 losses, and the mechanical properties of the soil left in th^ best con- 

 dition. 



Rye may then occupy an important place in the crop rotation sys- 

 tems for hog farms. It is adaptible for fall, winter and spring feeding, 

 and for hog feeding purposes when the grain is ripe. 



