72 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Omittiug the first test aud the supplementary period of the third test the 

 author calculates that on grain alone 5.28 lbs. were required for a pound of 

 gain and smaller amounts when other feeds supplemented the grain. 



The author calculates that in none of the tests did the pigs return the market 

 price for the feed if valued at 4 ets. per pound live weight. If sold at 6 cts. 

 per pound the calculated gain would average .$l.S.j per 100 lbs. feed. 



"A point of considerable importance is that this result indicates that when 

 running on pasture, hogs will keep in good condition and even gain in live weight 

 on a light grain ration. There are yet many other facts, however, to be worked 

 out along the lines of this test. 



" The important point brought out in this test is the value of some supple- 

 mentary food added to the grain ration in fattening hogs. . . . 



" In these tests, skim milk, sugar beets, clover, or alfafa have been used, and 

 their value seems to he in the order named. It is apparent that in some way 

 these additional foods have a value beyond what their composition would indi- 

 cate. These supplementary foods seem to act in two or three ways. 1st, they 

 seem to stimulate the appetites of the animals so that they eat more of the 

 grain and make more economic gains because there is a larger surplus over the 

 requirements of the body to tui'u into meat. 2d, these supplementary foods may 

 aid the digestion of the hogs so that they can make better use of the food given 

 them." 



Digester tankage for swine, K. S. Shaw (Michigan ^Sta. Bui. 237, pp. 

 149-157). — So much milk is supplied to cheese factories, condensed-milk facto- 

 ries, and sold to cities and towns that on many farms there is a scarcity of skim 

 milk for feeding young calves and pigs. A substitute for skim milk is, therefore, 

 desirable and the value of digester tankage for this purpose was studied for 

 young pigs in 1 test of 50 and 2 tests of TO days' duration with pigs 50 to 120 

 days old at the beginning of the trial. 



In one of the tests corn meal, middlings, and tankage 3 : .3 : 1 mixed with water 

 were compared with the same grain ration mixed with skim milk. In the other 

 tests middlings and corn meal 2 : 1 with the addition of one-eleventh of tankage 

 wet up with water were compared with the same grain ration mixed with skim 

 milk in the proportion of 1 lb. of meal to 3 lbs. of milk. 



On the tankage rations the average daily gain was 0.98 lb. and the feed con- 

 sumed per pound of gain- 3.14 lbs. On the meal and skim milk rations the 

 average daily gain Avas 1.08 lbs. per head and the feed required per pound of gain 

 2.48 lbs. meal and 5.G7 lbs. skim milk. In a check test covering 10 weeks in 

 which 2 lots of 5 pigs each were fed middlings and corn meal 2 : 1 mixed to a 

 thick slop with water 4.09 lbs. of meal were required per pound of gain, the 

 average daily gain being 0.8 lb. 



" The indications . . . are that digester tankage can be used successfully as a 

 substitute for skim milk in the ration for the growing pig from weaning time 

 ou." The results suggest " that a slightly greater proportion of tankage than 

 one-eleventh of the ration could be fed, increasing the gains somewhat, and still 

 keeping within the cost of production of the skim milk ration." 



Corn meal and digester tankage in the propbrtion of 5 : 1 and 9 : 1 were com- 

 pared for fattening pigs with rations of corn meal only and with rations of 

 middlings and corn meal 2 : 1 with and without the addition of one-eleventh of 

 tankage. The tests covered from 70 to 98 days. The average daily gain per 

 pig on the tankage rations was 1.19 lbs. and on the rations without tankage 0.98 

 lb. The average cost of a pound of gain with tankage was 4.44 cts. and without 

 tankage 4.8r> cts. 



"The gains were greatest in every case where tankage was used in the ration 

 and this was more and more noticeable as the feeding period was prolonged. . . . 



