304 PRODUCTIVE FEEDING OF FARM ANIMALS 



Pastures. As with other farm animals, swine will make the 

 cheapest gains when grazing or harvesting their own feed (Figs. 

 78 and 79) ; pasture only, without any supplementary grain feed, 

 will not, however, produce satisfactory gains, whether this con- 

 sists of mixed grasses, clover, or alfalfa. In trials at the Utah 

 station 13 pigs weighing 60 to 75 pounds when on pasture (alfalfa 

 and mixed grasses, chiefly the former) gained only 0.2 pound daily; 

 pigs receiving one-half grain ration when on pasture gained 0.7 

 pound; and those receiving a full grain ration gained 1.2 pounds 

 daily. The pasturage saved about 15 per cent in the amount of 

 grain required for the production of 100 pounds gain. The 



FIG. 79. Making pork on blue grass. The average returns for four years on this pasture 

 were $15.18 per acre. (Missouri Station.) 



practice of feeding pastured pigs small grain rations is an econom- 

 ical method of carrying pigs over summer that are to be fattened 

 later, since such pigs will make rapid gains when put on full 

 feed, and at a slightly less cost than those fed a full ration from 

 the start (Utah Bulletin 94). 



Alfalfa pasture alone will furnish but little more than a main- 

 tenance ration for pigs, 14 but if grain is fed, all of this can then be 

 used for production. Two pounds of corn or more per 100 pounds 

 of pigs have been found more profitable than a lighter ration. 15 

 When grain is fed, an acre of alfalfa will furnish pasture for at 



13 Bulletin 94. 



"Oklahoma Report, 1899; Mississippi Report, 1905; Nebraska Bul- 

 letin 99. 



15 Nebraska Bulletin 99 ; Colorado Bulletin 2. 



