378 3Iissouri Agncultural Report. 



bulk and more mineral and protein content must be fed with corn to get 

 best results. This condition prevails in winter and sometimes in the dry- 

 part of the summer. 



Our replies show that pasture is used as long as it is possible to use 

 it. As for grain fed, the following table shows the number that feed the 

 different kinds of feed as a supplement to corn for pregnant sows : 



« 



Number of replies 74 



Number feeding sliorts 15 



Number feeding linseed oil meal 9 



Number feeding bran 8 



Number feeding oats 5 



Number feeding tankage or meat meal 5 



This supplement was fed mostly in the form of slop, which in ad- 

 dition to the nature of the feed, would help to keep the bowels of the 

 sow loose and in good condition. 



During the winter months, however, is the time when laxative feeds 

 and exercise are most needed, for there is a tendency for sows not to take 

 •enough exercise and to become constipated. The best way to overcome 

 this is to have a good winter pasture, concerning which the monthly 

 Bulletin of the Missouri State Board of Agriculture for May, 1909, in- 

 formation for which was gathered in the same manner as for this, says: 

 "* ' For early winter pasture the succulent forages may do well until freez- 

 ing weather. Clover, alfalfa, etc., if of good growth, may last that long. 

 Hape will make good pasture sometimes as late as Christmas. Cowpeas 

 <3an be pastured late in the fall and give a large amount of forage. But 

 from freezing time until grass comes in spring, any green forage for 

 bogs requires a special crop. Rye, wheat and bluegrass are about the 

 ■only plants that are of much value for winter months. If the bluegrass 

 bas a good growth in the fall, it makes excellent pasture in winter and 

 early spring. If pastured close in the fall, however, this grass furnishes 

 little pasture during the winter. "Wheat is in general use a winter crop 

 for pigs and can be sown at the right time to make a good crop of grain 

 the next summer, and at the same time furnish good pasture in either 

 winter or early spring. Rye is in more general use as a winter forage 

 for hogs than any other crop, as is shown by the fact that fifty-six out 

 -of one hundred fifty-six replies as to what winter pasture was provided 

 for hogs, gave rye ; thirty-seven said no pasture was furnished ; twenty- 

 nine gave wheat, and thirty-one gave bluegrass." 



It will be noted that only thirty-seven out of one-hundred fifty-six 

 Teplies said that no winter pasture was provided, thus showing the value 

 ■of having a green feed as much as possible in winter. The pasture 

 •serves the two-fold purpose of furnishing a nutritious and succulent 



