342 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



SIXTY CENT CORN AND FIVE CENT HOGS. 



(Chester Starr, Centralia, Missouri.) 



When Mr. Willson requested me to appear before this conven- 

 tion, he suggested as title "Sixty Cent Corn and Five Cent Hogs." 

 Feeding the sixty cent corn alone, I couldn't figure out much profit 

 on that basis, but fortunately the corn market has weakened and 

 the packers have not made good their boast of five cent hogs. By 

 aid of these two factors, the feeder may still make his work pay. 

 During the recent years, we have seen corn rather uniformly high : 

 fortunately save for several months in 1907 and 1908, we have 

 received high prices for our animated pork barrels. All of us re- 

 member the times when corn was sold for from fifteen to twenty 

 cents. Hogs were also low. Personally we have had better success 

 with the high prices. Still we must figure more closely than we 

 used to. We must pay closer attention to details and make mora 

 use of our experiment stations — the people own the stations, why 

 shouldn't we use them. Their results are very often highly im- 

 portant to us. 



Our hogs are almost wholly fed after cattle. I am more at 

 home in that phase and with your permission I will confine myself 

 to that line. For several reasons we have no, accurate figures of 

 v/hat our hogs do and what they cost us. We buy stockers at all 

 times and, when shipping, select a car load or two, weig'ning the 

 selected ones only. Our hogs are usually fed more or less, the 

 amount of extra feed depending on their appetite. Feeding in thi': 

 manner, it would require a large amount of time and labor to keep 

 track of their gains and cost of gains — the results v/ould not pay 

 for the extra work. We depend largely on our eye as to the con- 

 dition. 



Of course, the number of hogs following cattle vary, depend- 

 ing upon market, age of cattle, size and condition of hogs and the 

 ration of the cattle. In times when stockers were low we have 

 had as high as five to a steer, usually we use two to our two year 

 old cattle, fed on ear corn or fodder. The more range the hogs 

 have, the better will remain the health. We keep our hogs just a 

 little hungry and consequently they trail the cattle all over the 

 pasture, getting the extra feed found and, in summer, getting 

 fresher grass. In winter, we use a barn, rather a shed as it is 

 open on the south and has two twelve foot doors on the east and 



