7i8 Journal of Agriciiliiirc . Vicioria. [lo Dec. 1912. 



GENERAL NOTES. 



PIG FEEDING— 



The Central P^xperiment P'arm, Ottawa, lias carried out a series 

 of pig-feeding experiments, and the conclusions arrived at include 

 the following points: — It will not pay to cook feed (grain and meals) 

 for swine if econom^y of production is alone considered. More food 

 is required to produce 1 lb. of gain after the live-weight exceeds 

 100 lbs., and the most economical time to slaughter swine is when 

 they weigh 175 to 200 lbs. The average dressed weight of swine is 

 about 76 per cent, of the fasted weight. Slrim milk is a valuable 

 addition to a grain ration where hard flesh is desired, and 700 lbs. 

 skim milk equals 100 lbs. mixed grain, unless the milk is used in undue 

 proportion. The greatest gains from a given amount of grain are 

 made when the grain is ground and soaked for 24 hours. ^Nlixed 

 grains are more economical than grains fed pure. 



PHOSPHATES ON PASTURE— 



The soils of A^ictoria generally show a marked deficiency in avail- 

 able phosphates, and as a result the use of phosphatic manure upon 

 cereal crops has become almost universal. As wheat and oats belong 

 to the order of Grasses, one might infer that common pasture grasses 

 Avould likewise benefit from an application of phosphatic manure. 

 In this connexion the results obtained by the Federal Institution of 

 Agriculture, at Lausanne, make suggestive reading. Two adjoining 

 sections of pasture were selected, and one of them received 4 cwt. 

 superphosphate each year, while the other got no manure. The experi- 

 ments lasted three years. In the first year the yield on the unmanured 

 plot was 9 cwt.. and on the manured plot 14 cwt. ; in the second year 

 the yields were 6 cwt. and 18 cwt. ; and in the third year 7 cwt. and 

 29 cwt. respectively. The size of the plots is not stated. Besides 

 increasing the yield, the phosphate also improved the quality of the 

 herbage, and at the close of the experiments clovers formed 45 per 

 cent, of the herbage on the phosphate plot, as compared to 9 per cent, 

 without manure. The profit from the superphosphate was calculated 

 at £1 8s. 6d. per acre each year. It is pointed out that the soils here 

 were rich in humiLs, and showed no deficiency of phosphates by 

 chemical tests; consequently the only sure means of testing the need 

 for phosphates was a trial in the field. The quantity of manure used 

 at Lausanne is considerably in excess of that indicated for application 

 to pastures in this State for reasons that are partly climatic and 

 partly commercial. It is a well known law of manuring, however, 

 that if a heavy dressing of manure yields a profit a small dressing 

 will give a better return relatively to outlay, although the total profit 

 may be less. For pasture trials in Victoria, from 1 cwt. to 2 cwt. 

 superphosphate per acre would be a suitable dressing for the land. 



