70 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



The production of pastures is an economical proposition and is to be 

 encouraged on every American as well as Canadian swine farm in order 

 to obviate the necessity of purchasing high-priced protein concentrates. 

 The most profitable supplemental pastures in the corn belt in the order 

 of merit are: alfalfa, rape, red clover, blue grass and sweet clover of the 

 first year's growth. In the South cowpeas, soy beans, Spanish peanuts 

 and Lespedeza clover may be added, inasmuch as these plants give excellent 

 success in warm climates and on soils that are sandy and relatively unpro- 

 ductive as compared to the corn belt soils of Iowa and Illinois. 



Swine feeding and dairying, along with judicious use of green forages 

 in a good corn, barley or other similar grain country, is a most excellent 

 swine-farming proposition. If alfalfa can be raised, so much the better. 



Preparation of Feeds. Hard, tough, fibrous-shelled seeds such as 

 Kaffir corn, sorghum, milo maize and millet will be much more efficient 

 if fed in the ground condition. If grinding is impossible, soaking is the 

 next best possible procedure. 



Wheat, rye and barley likewise give better results when ground, and 

 can also be soaked as an alternative. Some experiments show as much 

 as 20 per cent increase in the efficiency of wheat through the grinding 

 as compared to feeding the grain dry and whole. 



The general herd, young pigs and sows on a maintenance ration do 

 better on ear corn than any other form. However, fattening sows and 

 heavy fat hogs in the final stages of fattening make more economical gains 

 on the soaked shelled grain. If any preparation should be used other 

 than dry ear, it should be shelled soaked corn rather than the ground 

 grain dry or soaked. 



Corn-and-cob meal has little to commend it to any class of swine 

 except possibly the brood sows on maintenance, and even with these the 

 ear corn is the most profitable. 



Hays, such as ground alfalfa, may be ground ofttimes in order to 

 facilitate their mixture with the grain rations and to encourage their 

 consumption. 



Wetting and cooking of feeds is not ordinarily profitable, although 

 to produce rapid gains these procedures are sometimes permissible, this 

 being especially true in the production and finishing of show stock. 



Hand vs. Self-Feeding. Better results will be secured by the self- 

 feed method than by hand-feeding twice daily. However, feeding three 

 times a day is the most efficient, considering rapidity of gains and economy 

 in feed required for 100 pounds of gain. Under our ordinary high-priced 

 labor conditions, thrice a day is not enough better to excel self-feeding. 



The " Free-Choice" scheme of feeding consists of allowing acceptable 

 feeds before swine in such a manner that they can balance their own 

 rations. In 1914 a group of pigs fed at the Iowa station according to 

 this scheme, receiving shelled corn, linseed oil meal, oats and meat meal 

 (or tankage), limestone, charcoal and salt in separate feeds, weighed 316 



