676 

 Ontario Agricultural College Station, Bulletin No. 59, March 14, 1891 (pp. 6). 



Green fodder for swine, T. Shaw. — This is an accouut of an 

 experiment made " (1) to ascertain whether green fodder used as a food 

 adjunct in summer along with a suitable grain ration, effected a saving 

 in the cost of producing pork, and if so, to what extent ; (2) whether a 

 large or a small quantity of the green food used in this way furnished 

 the cheapest ration ; and (3) to test the correctness of the theory that 

 some bulky food mixed with a grain ration in feeding swine, secures a 

 more thorough digestion of the grain." 



Nine pigs, from 6 to 9 months old at the beginning of the experiment, 

 were divided into three lots of 3 pigs (two barrows and one sow) each, 

 and after a preparatory period of 1 week were fed from June 7 to 

 October 8, 1890, as follows : Lot 1 received all they would eat of a grain 

 mixture consisting of 2 jiarts by weight of ground peas and 1 part 

 each of ground barley, ground oats, and wheat middlings ; lot 2 

 received about three fourths as much of the grain mixture as lot 1, and a 

 quantity of cut green fodder, "consisting of clover, oats and vetch, 

 corn and millet, as these came in season ;" and lot 3 received about one 

 third as much of the grain mixture as lot 1, and about twice as much 

 green fodder as lot 2. 



"The aim was to make the quantities of grain used in these two 

 instances exactly two thirds and one third, respectively, of the amount 

 fed to the pigs in lot 1;" but slight variations occurred. 



The food consumed, increase in live weight, cost of food, and financial 

 gain or loss per cent are given for each lot. The average gain in live 

 weight and cost of food for each lot are as follows: 



The cost of food is based on peas at 55 cents per bushel, barley at 

 50 cents, oats at 35 cents ( + 8 cents per 100 pounds for grinding), wheat 

 middlings at $15 per ton, and green fodder at $2 per ton. No allow- 

 ance was made for the value of the manure except as an offset to the 

 cost of the labor. 



At the close of the experiment the animals in lotl were fat and those 

 in lot 2 prime, while those in lot 3 were not improved in condition. 



After the above experiment the pigs were all fed for 40 days on a 

 ration similar to that received by lot 1, to observe any after effects of 

 the feeding of green fodder. 



In addition to the observations alreexly stated the following conclu- 

 sions are given by the author : 



