FEEDS FOE SWINE 647 



shown by trials at the Massachusetts and South Dakota Stations, 74 in 

 which pigs fed buttermilk and corn made as large gains and required no 

 more feed for 100 Ibs. gain than others fed skim milk and corn. It is 

 essential that buttermilk be fed under sanitary conditions. If allowed 

 to spoil in a filthy tank it is a poor feed, for it may cause severe scours. 

 Horlacher found at the Kentucky Station 75 that buttermilk 2 days old 

 or more was a satisfactory feed, if kept in sanitary containers. Butter- 

 milk should always be pasteurized thoroly before being returned from 

 the creamery to the farm, else tuberculosis and other diseases may be 

 spread widely. (269) 



Semi-solid 'buttermilk is produced by evaporating buttermilk in a par- 

 tial vacuum until it is condensed to one-third or one-fourth the original 

 volume. This product is of paste-like consistency and is shipped in 

 barrels. Owing to the lactic acid it contains, it will keep after the barrel 

 is opened, if a piece of oil cloth or thick paper is pressed down on the 

 exposed surface, or if the surface is covered with an inch of water. 



Semi-solid buttermilk contains only 13 to 15 per ct. crude protein and 

 about the same amount of nitrogen-free extract, which consists of lactic 

 acid and lactose (milk sugar). It contains only about one-fourth as 

 much crude protein as high grade tankage, and is a relatively watery 

 feed, as over 60 per ct. of it is water. Yet it commonly costs nearly as 

 much per ton as tankage. Semi-solid buttermilk is therefore a very ex- 

 pensive feed, compared with tankage and other protein-rich feeds. 



Some breeders who lack a supply of skim milk, buttermilk, or whey 

 add a small amount of this product to the rations of swine being fitted 

 for show or of young pigs. However, semi-solid buttermilk is too high in 

 price, considering the nutrients it actually contains, to be an economical 

 substitute for tankage in fattening pigs for the market, either in dry 

 lot or on pasture. The following table summarizes the results of 4 

 trials, 76 with pigs averaging 114 Ibs. in weight at the start, in which 

 corn and semi-solid buttermilk has been compared with corn and tankage 

 for pigs in dry lot and for an equal number of similar trials 77 with pigs 

 on pasture. 



Semi-solid buttermilk vs. tankage for pigs 



Feed for 100 Ibs. gain 

 Daily Butter- Tank- 

 Average ration gain Corn milk age 



Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. 

 Pigs in dry lot 



Lot I, S.-s. buttermilk, 0.81 Ib. Corn 6.6 Ibs. 1.53 431 57 



Lot II, Tankage, 0.49 Ib. Corn, 6.1 Ibs 1 . 54 396 . . 33 



Pigs on pasture 



Lot I, S.-s. buttermilk. 1.4 Ibs. Corn, 6.1 Ibs. 1.84 324 79 



Lot II, Tankage, 0.37 Ib. Corn, 6.2 Ibs. 1 . 78 333 . . 21 



74 Goesmann, Mass. Rpts. 1884, 1885; Wilson, S. D. Bui. 136. 



"Poland China Jour., Feb. 10, 1922. 



76 Average of 2 trials by Gramlich and Loeffel (Nebr. Bui. 176 and informa- 

 tion to the authors) ; 1 trial by McCampbell (Kan. Cir. 78) ; and 1 trial by Vestal, 

 Ind. Station (Information to the authors). 



"Average of 2 trials by Gramlich (Nebr. Bui. 176), and 2 by Grimes (Penn. 

 Bui. 168). 



