SWINE. 889 



which are supposed to take place chiefly after leaving the stomach, and more or less 

 throughout the intestinal canal.&quot; 



Pigs, as well as all other animals, require a variety of food. No single article of diet 

 can ever in itself meet all the requirements of an animal s system. Swine will probably eat 

 a greater variety of food than any other animal, their diet consisting of various herbs, grasses, 

 clover, roots, grains, fruits, nuts, flesh, fish, etc., when they can obtain it. Hogs will thrive 

 well on good pasturage alone, and will relish red and white clover equal to a cow, while 

 alfalfa is also excellent. Professor Shelton, of the Kansas Agricultural College, after 

 experimenting with alfalfa for several years, states that he does not hesitate to say that one 

 acre of alfalfa is worth as much for hogs as five acres of artichokes; that it furnishes two 

 or three times the amount of food that clover or blue grass does. 



Grain seems to be the cheapest food in the west for swine, and the main dependence of 

 the farmers there. &quot;When fed in too large quantities, corn is too heating to the system ; 

 and too concentrated to be fed alone; consequently other foods are essential in the same 

 connection for keeping the animal in good health and digestion. Artichokes, potatoes, ruta 

 bagas, parsnips, carrots, beets, and other roots are readily eaten by swine, as well as many 

 insects, such as the larvae of the beetle and common grubs of pastures, frogs, and other small 

 animals that they may be able to kill when running in large fields. When permitted to run 

 in large pastures and timber lands, as is the custom at the South, for instance, they will 

 readily devour acorns, nuts, and wild fruits. It is well for swine to run in the grain fields 

 after harvesting, if possible, in order to glean what grain may have been left, besides obtaining 

 a variety of herbage. 



Corn, either ground or whole, fed with roots, grass, and a plenty of slops doubtless gives 

 the best results in proportion to its expense, of anything in the grain-raising sections. In the 

 autumn, pumpkins and grain boiled together are excellent for fattening swine. &quot;When 

 thoroughly loiled, pigs will eat beans, and thrive well on them, although they are not as fond 

 of them as of peas, which they will eat with avidity. Half peas and half corn are generally 

 considered better than either alone. Peas make very firm pork. Oil cake, when fed in small 

 quantities, in connection with other food, is very good for pigs; but when fed in too large 

 quantities will injure the quality and flavor of the pork. It is excellent for breeding sows, 

 as it is nutritious, keeps the bowels loose, and increases the quantity and quality of the milk. 

 Bran is good to be fed in connection with oil meal. 



When it is desired that the fattening process progress slowly, in order that the pigs may 



attain a large size before taking on much flesh, boiled potatoes and milk are very useful for 



the purpose. Small potatoes may be used to advantage for this purpose. The fattening 



process can always be greatly hastened by increasing the quantity of corn meal in the rations 



of the pigs. 



Where fat flesh is desired for salting and barreling pork, the food of the pigs in rearing 

 and fattening should contain a large proportion of Indian meal; but where hams and bacon 

 are desired principally they should be fed more largely on grass, clover, sweet corn stalks, 

 amber- cane and sorghum (when the latter have become well silked and headed), for green 

 food, together with skim-milk, whey, bran, or middlings; while meal from oats, barley, or 

 rye should be given instead of that from corn, since Indian meal makes fat flesh much more 

 rapidly than that from other grains, while that from oats, barley, rye, etc., produces a fair 

 proportion of lean meat. 



Pigs should always be fed with regularity, and in quantity all that they will eat clean. 

 Never allow them to leave food to be trodden upon and mixed with dirt, to be afterwards 

 eaten, and never put food for them where it will be mixed with mud or dirt of any kind; 

 always give it to them in a clean place. Partially decayed or frozen fruits, roots, or vege 

 tables, should never be given swine, or other stock, as the effect is to disturb digestion, and 

 render other food given less nutritious to the animal. 



