PROCEEDINGS CORN BELT MEAT PRODUCERS' ASSN. 521 



Q. Should hogs root that have been self -fed on corn, tankage, 

 blue grass, clover and rape? 



A. I don't think so, no ; I don't think they should. I have 

 often thought I would like to be a hog for a while to see why they 

 do some of the things they do. (Laughter.) 



Q. Isn't the rooting of a hog better for the pasture than it is 

 for the hog? 



A. Not if he tears it all up. 



Q. Isn't that the reason he is doing it? I have a pasture that 

 has not had hogs in it for some time, and they tore that up, and I 

 have another pasture where hogs have been in it for two years, 

 and that pasture has never been torn up in recent years. 



A. White grubs in the pasture may be one reason why the pigs 

 root. 



Q. It eliminated the grubs. 



A. A year ago we fed a lot of pigs on corn, salt and blue grass, 

 and the field looked as though it had been plowed. 



Q. Is slack coal and salt considered a good feed for hogs? 



A. We have never run tests with it, but from the way pigs have 

 done for us on cinders, I would rather not use slack coal. Some 

 people tell me they get good results from feeding slack coal, but 

 I would rather not use it if I could get wood ashes or ground lime- 

 stone. 



Q. What is the value of alfalfa hay for brood sows during win- 

 ter weather in dry lot? 



A. It is good. If you have good green alfalfa of third cut- 

 ting, sows will get along fairly well on corn and alfalfa hay. They 

 must eat at least a pound a day. It is safer to add a little tankage. 

 Stronger pigs were farrowed for us where alfalfa hay was kept 

 before the sows, even when fed tankage. 



Q. What will silage do with sows just rising to farrow? 



A. We haven't had much experience along that line. We fed 

 it to two sows and fed them all they could eat for two weeks just 

 before farrowing, and it didn't hurt them. That's the only expe- 

 rience we have had with it : Some feeders report that they have had 

 bad results. 



Q. Were the pigs rugged and active? 



A. Yes. 



Q. Did you ever have any bad experience in feeding tankage 

 to brood sows? Do you self-feed it? 



A. Never; we hand-feed it. We find that a half pound a day 



