452 IOWA DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE 



consideration the lessened risk, labor, interest and so on, due indirectly to 

 the large gains and quick marketing (directly due to the meat meal added 

 which kept up the appetite and insured thrift and growth) the practical 

 advisability of feeding a little supplement is strengthened. 



Rape requires very little if any supplement. Our experience indi- 

 cates, and the above figures are in line with this, that about 5 per cent 

 as much meat meal as of corn is sufficient in the growing and fattening 

 of spring pigs while on rape. It seems that the added supplement in- 

 sures a better growth which economically reflects itself in faster and 

 more efficient gains after forage is gone; this small amount of meat 

 product supplement may derive some of its advantage from the fact that 

 it furnishes those amino acids which are essential in meat production, 

 and which may possibly be lacking in rape. Another possible explana- 

 tion of the greater efficiency may lie in the added mineral elements 

 having an alkaline reaction. 



Sweet clover in the first year of its growth is an acceptable forage. 

 Living two years as it does the first year's growth is inclined to be 

 much finer, and of better texture, and more leafy than that of the second 

 year. Ordinarily sweet clover only grows about 20 to 30 inches high the 

 first year whereas the second year a man can lose himself even though 

 on horseback in it. The second year is the "seeding year," which means 

 that the plants become woody and coarse, yielding a maximum of crude 

 fibre, and a minimum of leaves, this being especially true after the 

 first couple of months of growth. Our experience with the second year's 

 growth of this clover as a hog pasture has not been gratifying; it has 

 rather been discouragingly disappointing. If one insists on pasturing 

 the growth of the second year, which is entirely the practical thing to 

 do very early In the season, he should insist that the growth be pas- 

 tured down quite severely in order to prevent the plants "shooting for 

 seed," which inevitably brings woodiness. All experience indicates that 

 this heavy pasturing in the second year is to be encouraged if maximum 

 efficiency is to be secured from the season's growth. 



SOY BEANS AND COWPEAS OUTCLASSED. 



That soy beans and cowpeas merit little, if any, attention as a hog 

 forage in northern sections of the corn belt is quite clearly demon- 

 strated in the summary presented for your consideration in Table II. 



