470 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



"We added a little meat meal to the ration (there is no difference be- 

 tween meat meal and tankage) for the reason that it added a little 

 more protein and balanced the ration better. 



"From the table given you will see the result taken in 1911, for alfalfa. 

 An acre of alfalfa carried sixteen and a half pigs from May 19 to No- 

 vember 15, a period of a hundred and eighty days. These pigs averaged 

 18.8 pounds each at the beginning, made an average daily gain of 1.05 

 pounds, the gain per hundred pounds ration daily being 4.05, and pro- 

 duced these gains at $2.88 per hundred. In figuring up the cost we 

 charged up the rent, the seed, and all the work done and found that it 

 returned SG.G cents for every bushel of corn. We had 865 pounds of pigs 

 at the end of the 180 day period which we could not credit to anything 

 but alfalfa, besides taking off 3,838 pounds of alfalfa from the field. That 

 hay w^ould now be worth $20 but we put it in at $14 a ton. Thus from 

 an acre of alfalfa we got 865 pounds of pork and 3,838 pounds of alfalfa 

 hay. In feeding alfalfa we fed fourteen parts corn and one part meat 

 meal. It takes less protein to balance an alalfa ration than clover. 



"On an acre of clover we had 18.75 hogs for 141 days. These pigs 

 averaged at the beginning 39 pounds each. They made an average daily 

 gain of 1.13 pounds, gain per hundred pounds daily 3.70, cost of producing 

 gains $3.84 per hundred, net returns per bushel of corn 71.7 cents and 

 650 pounds of pork from the acre of clover at the end of the 141 days. 



With rape we had twenty pigs to the acre for 141 days. The average 

 initial weight was 37.9 pounds, average daily gain 1.104, gain per hundred 

 pounds 3.64, cost per hundred pounds gain $3.79, net returns per bushel 

 of corn 73.1 cents, 731 pounds of pork to the acre of rape. This result was 

 obtained in 1910. Last year we produced 1,438 pounds of pork from an 

 acre of rape but in giving this table we wanted to give an average. 



"On an acre of sweet clover we had 23.5 pigs for a period of 141 days. 

 The average initial weight of these pigs was 37.9 and the average daily 

 gain 1.02 pounds. The gain per hundred pounds was 3.97, cost of a hun- 

 dred pounds gain $3.70, net returns per bushel of corn 73.3 cents and 854 

 pounds of pork to the acre of sweet clover. Sweet clover is something 

 that you see growing everywhere. It belongs to the clover and alfalfa 

 family. We sowed our field along in April at the rate of eighteen pounds 

 of seed per acre. We turned the hogs on it on the 27th of June. You 

 have to keep it cut down pretty close. If you do not it gets woody. If 

 you seed sweet clover every year it is good for hogs. You can grow it 

 on land you can't grow alfalfa on. For a few days the hogs don't like it 

 because it is a little bitter but if you give them nothing else they will 

 take to it and eat it. 



"The oats, peas and rape carried 23.54 pigs for 160 days. The average 

 initial weight was 26.2, average daily gain 1,166, gain per hundred pounds 

 4.08, cost per hundred pounds gain $3.77, net returns per bushel of corn 

 70.8 cents, pork produced to acre of oats, peas and rape, 1,147. This re- 

 sult was obtained in 1911. 



"In sowing oats, peas and rape, sow at the rate of a bushel of oats, a 

 bushel of peas and about four pounds of rape seed. We mixed them all 

 together and sowed all at the same time. 



