44 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 10 



The advantages of pasturing hogs in grub-infested land in addition 

 to the advantages advanced by swine experts regarding ordinary pas- 

 turing of hogs may be summarized as: 1. Eradication of grubs which 

 might otherwise destroy the crops planted on the ground. 2. Value 

 of the grubs as hog feed which is comparable with feeds costing $25 

 to $35 per ton, 3. Value of the manure distributed over the land, 

 which has a money value, according to the experts of the Federal 

 Bureau of Animal Industry, ^ of $3.29 per ton. 



Vice-President G. A. Dean: Is there any discussion? 



Mr. G. W. Herrick: I would like to ask Mr. Davis if the adults 

 have been fed to hogs. 



Mr. J. J. Davis: Only when they are found in infested fields; that 

 is, during the fall of the year that they change to beetles. Hogs will 

 search for beetles in the soil just as freely as for grubs. 



Mr. G. W. Herrick: Were there any poisonous effects? 



Mr. J. J. Davis : Absolutely no poisonous effects to my knowledge. 



Mr. H. E. Smith: The table shows a high content of crude protein. 

 Has anything been done about determining the digestible protein 

 content. That is what the farmers are interested in as it is a most 

 important factor, and a statement of crude protein is likely to be 

 misleading. 



Mr. J. J. Davis: I cannot answer that. All feeding materials are 

 analyzed in this way and the protein content spoken of as crude protein. 

 Apparently the digestible protein content cannot be determined by a 

 feeding experiment. I might add a word relative to the non-injurious 

 effects of the grubs on hogs. Dr. Forbes in one of his bulletins records 

 pasturing 108 hogs in an enclosed 10 acre field badly infested with white 

 grubs. In 27 days less than 1% of the grubs remained. If we figure 

 34.6 grubs per hill, the count made at the beginning of the experiment, 

 it is easily calculated that the pigs destroyed approximately 1,217,083 

 grubs in 27 days. That is 11,278 or possibly 24 pounds per animal 

 which, by the way, suffered no ill effects from this large amount of 

 grubs. 



Mr. G. W. Herrick: The reason I asked was that some experi- 

 ments in feeding rose bugs proved poisonous to chickens and I did not 

 know but what similar results might occur in feeding May-beetles. 



Mr. J. J. Davis: No poisonous effect has ever been noticed from 

 feeding Lachnosterna beetles to hogs or chickens to my knowledge. 



Vice-President G. A. Dean: Mr. Joseph H. Merrill will now 

 present the next paper. 



1 Weekly News Letter, U. S. Dept. Agr., vol. IV, No. 17, Nov 29, 1916, p. 3. 



