ANIMAL PRODUCTION". 897 



grain and skim milk each fed alone were compared with grain and skim milk 

 1:4 and 1:8, the tesl being made with I lots of 3 pigs each and covering 86 

 days. The average daily gain ranged from <». IT lb. on grain only i<> 1.38 lbs. per 

 head on grain and skim milk l : I. The cosl of a pound of gain ranged from i._ 

 c(s. on the Ias1 mentioned ration to 5.48 ets. on skim milk only. 



Four feeding trials were reported each with 2 lots of 3 or I pigs, one lot being 

 fed grain and skim milk i : •". or l and the other In the proportion of l : 7 or 8. 

 The average duration of the tests was ill days. With the larger proportion of 

 skim milk the average daily gain was 1.10 lbs. per bead and with the smaller 

 proportion 1.27 lbs., the cosl of a pound of gain in the 2 cases being 1.45 and 1.95 

 .is. Considering all the lots the average amounl of feed required per pound of 

 gain was '2.7>:'> lbs. grain and 10.86 lbs. skim milk. The gains made by the pigs 

 in differenl periods were considered, in the case of most of the pigs the rela- 

 tion of dressed to live weight was recorded and found to be 75 per cenl on an 

 average. 



Fattening pigs and wintering brood sows on alfalfa and a grain ration, 

 II. B. Smith {Nebraska Sta. Press Bui. 20, pp. '/).- —The value of cul alfalfa 

 hay and ground alfalfa hay as substitutes for grain was tested with 8 lots of 

 7 pigs each, the rations consisting of corn meal, alone and with shorts, bran, 

 cut alfalfa hay. and ground alfalfa hay. the proportions in which the other feed- 

 ing stuffs were combined with the corn meal being 3:1 and 1 :1. 



In the 12 weeks of the test the average daily gain per pig ranged from 0.8 

 lh. on corn meal and bran "> : 1 to 1.096 lbs. on corn meal and shorts .". : 1. How- 

 ever, nearly as large gains were made when alfalfa hay formed a part of the 

 ration amounting to 1.071 lbs. and i.062 lbs., respectively, with corn meal and 

 cut alfalfa hay 3:3 and corn meal and ground alfalfa hay 3:1. The feed re- 

 quired per pound of gain ranged from 4.66 lbs. with corn meal and shorts .", : 1 to 

 5.89 lbs. with corn meal and bran :'» : 1. and the cost of a pound of gain from 2.62 

 ets. with corn meal and cut alfalfa hay •"> : 1 to 3.96 ets. with corn meal and 

 ground alfalfa hay 1 : 1. 



"The largest daily gains were made on three-fourths corn and one-fourth 

 shorts, but a gain practically equivalent was made at a lower cost where |a like 

 proportion of] cither cut or ground alfalfa was substituted for shorts in the 

 ration. The cheapest gains were made on corn and cut alfalfa. Bran does not 

 prove equal to either shorts or alfalfa when fed as one quarter of the ration 

 to pigs. 



"A ration three- fourths corn and one-fourth alfalfa produces greater gains 

 than when one-half alfalfa is U-d. Where alfalfa is raised on the farm, and 

 when there is no particular need to hasten growth in the pigs, a ration one- 

 half alfalfa hay and one-half corn may give cheaper gains than when a heavier 

 corn ration is fed. 



"Holts which have been raised largely on alfalfa pasture will learn to eat 

 the hay in winter without cutting with a machine and to depend largely upon 

 it where only a limited grain ration is fed, but a ration wholly alfalfa does not 

 seem to give economical results. 



"This experiment shows that cut or ground alfalfa can be substituted for 

 shorts at tin' same price in fattening pigs." 



In another test a lot of 1»> young sows were fed for 8 weeks corn meal and 

 ground alfalfa hay 1: 1. in comparison with a similar lot of 11 sows fed like 

 proportions ol ground barley and ground alfalfa hay. The average daily gain 

 on the corn-meal ration was 0.98 lb. per head and on the barley ration 0.84 lb. 

 "Both these lots made tine gains and at farrowing time produced large, strong 

 litters, showing that the rations had been nearly ideal . . . for brood sows." 



In a third test, 13 brood sows averaging U.jS lbs. each were fed a ration of 2 



