390 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



Cooked Food for Pigs. The advantages of cooked or steamed food over that of 

 uncooked for animals, have already been discussed in connection with the management of 

 cattle, to which we would refer the reader; it will not, therefore, require further mention in 

 connection with swine, except, perhaps, to give a few additional experiments. In the man 

 agement of young pigs, whether weaned or not, it is well known to all breeders that 

 cooked food is better than uncooked, since it is more easily digested, better assimilated 

 and nourished, and is more like nature s food for the young pig. There are also many 

 successful breeders of swine who advocate the cooking of food for pigs that are being rapidly 

 fattened for market, and claim that the advantages to be gained thereby abundantly repay 

 the labor and expense attending the process of cooking. 



When we consider that the bulk of the grain that is fed to pigs is composed of starch, and 

 that this substance consists of globules or grains contained in a kind of sack, and that to 

 burst these grains, heat must be supplied equal to 162 to 212 F., we can readily see that the 

 heat of the pigs stomach is not sufficient to fully utilize starch foods; that in fact, these 

 grains must be cooked in order that there may be perfect digestion and assimilation. 



Raspail, a writer upon the chemistry of foods, says: &quot; Starch is not actually nutritive to 

 man till it has been boiled or cooked. The heat of the stomach is not sufficient to burst all 

 the grains of the feculent mass, which is subjected to the rapid action of that organ; and 

 recent experiments prove the advantage that results from boiling potatoes and grain which 

 are given to graminivorous animals for food, for a large proportion, when given whole, in the 

 raw state, passes through the intestines perfectly unaffected, as when swallowed.&quot; 



A &quot;Western breeder gives the result of his experiments as follows: &quot; On the first of 

 October. I divided six pigs, of the same litter, into two lots of three each, they being of the 

 same weight and thrift 225 pounds each lot placing them in separate pens. Lot No. 1 

 was fed upon corn-meal, soaked about 12 hours in cold water all they would eat with a 

 little early-cut clover hay thrown into the pen for them to chew, to promote health. Lot No. 

 2 was fed corn-meal, thoroughly cooked, and fed lukewarm, ad libitum, with a lock of clover 

 hay. This experiment continued till the 8th of January, or 100 days. Lot 1 consumed 

 2,111 pounds of meal, and gained 420 pounds average 140 pounds each. Lot 2 consumed 

 2,040 pounds, and gained 600 pounds average 200 pounds each. This gives 11 pounds 

 gain, for one bushel of meal, by lot No. 1; and 16.47 pounds gain, for a bushel of meal, by 

 lot 2. Lot 1 ate, on an average, 7.04 pounds of meal per day, and gained 1.40 pounds. Lot 

 2 ate, on an average, 6.80 pounds of meal per day, and gained 2 pounds. 



&quot; I have no doubt the gain would have been slightly larger in each lot if the meal had 

 been mixed with the clover hay, cut. I have reached, with a larger lot of hogs, 17.20 pounds 

 to each bushel of cooked meal consumed, mixed, before cooking, with a little cut clover hay. 

 This is, however, a larger average than can be counted upon in any large operations.&quot; 



Mr. Joseph Sullivant. the author of a valuable pamphlet on swine, made a careful exam 

 ination of all available facts touching this subject, and gives the following as a summary of the 

 result: &quot; I conclude that nine pounds of pork from a bushel fed in the ear, twelve pounds 

 from raw meal, thirteen and a half pounds from boiled corn, sixteen and a half pounds from 

 cooked meal, is no more than a moderate average which the feeder may expect to realize from 

 a bushel of corn, under ordinary circumstances of weather, with dry, warm, and clean feed 

 ing pens.&quot; 



Whether it will pay to cook food for hogs will depend upon circumstances and surround 

 ing conditions, and therefore each farmer must be a law unto himself in this matter, being guided 

 by the facts and circumstances. The cost of labor, fuel, and apparatus being taken into account, 

 it will generally be true that where a man has but few pigs, it will not pay to cook the food, 

 but if he has a large number, it will most assuredly pay, and pay well. Putting it in a dif 

 ferent way, it will cost nearly as much to cook food for ten pigs as for fifty or a hundred ; 



