FARM ANIMALS 205 



alone. It has been demonstrated that when hogs 

 bring five and one-half to six cents a pound there is 

 good profit in feeding wheat. Barley, however, 

 may not yield suitable returns at the same price for 

 pork. Likewise, in Colorado wheat gave a hand- 

 some profit in the form of pork. Wheat and bar- 

 ley ground together were found to make a well- 

 balanced ration which surpassed corn alone as a 

 hog food. When wheat and barley are ground 

 together and fed in the form of meal better results 

 are obtained in a dry form than in a slop. In 

 Canada it has been found that four and one-half 

 pounds of barley are required for the production of 

 one pound of pork and that pigs on barley will 

 make an average gain of eight -tenths of a pound per 

 day. In some experiments barley has been shown 

 to be more efficient than a mixture of barley, oats 

 and corn. The addition of roots is beneficial in 

 most instances. In Nebraska it was found in a 

 comparison of wheat and corn as food for pigs that 

 the meat of the wheat fed hogs contained a little 

 more lean and was firmer than that of hogs which 

 received corn. In general, it may be stated that 

 wheat may be profitably substituted for corn in 

 feeding pigs so long as the price is not more than 

 nine per cent, greater than that of corn. Wheat 

 is improved as pig feed by soaking. Rye, while 

 usually placed in the same category with barley and 

 wheat, in the list of foods, is less desirable than 

 either of the latter, since it fails to produce as much 

 gain and is not as well relished by hogs. Of the 

 three grains just mentioned wheat stands at the top 

 in the efficiency of pork production, eighty-five 

 pounds of wheat being equal for this purpose to 

 one hundred pounds of barley. 



On all farms where hogs are raised, middlings 



