504 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



cost of handling 1 . Refuse fresh fruits of all kinds, and especially refuse 

 dried fruits have nutritive value which should not be lost. A statement 

 of the value of various fruits as compared with various cattle foods 

 has been prepared by Prof. M. C. Jaffa, of the University Experiment 

 Station, in the adjacent table. 



A good average of the pitted fresh fruits is represented by prunes. 

 Using the equivalents in the table above for computation, it appears 

 that if wheat bran costs $15 per ton, fresh prunes would be worth as a 

 substitute $3 per ton ; likewise, if cottonseed meal is selling for $21 per 

 ton, the prune value would be about $2.75. At the market price of oat 

 hay, the figures for fresh prunes should be nearly $3 per ton. 



The dried fruits naturally rank far above the fresh material as stock 

 feed. Of the dried fruits represented in the table, raisins lead in food 

 value ; containing one and one-fourth to one and one-half times the 

 nutritive ingredients of alfalfa and oat hays, respectively ; 100 pounds 

 of the fruit being practically equal to the same quantity of grain, but to 

 only eighty-two and fifty-nine pounds respectively of rice bran and 

 cottonseed meal. 



Dried apricots rank slightly lower than raisins, because they contain 

 more water. Apricots are, however, of equal value as a feeding stuff 

 with wheat bran and almond hulls about half as much as alfalfa hay, 

 bran or middlings. 



Concerning the feeding of raisins to hogs, the following statements 

 are made : "With raisins selling at 2J^ cents per pound they are much 

 cheaper food for hogs than corn or barley. Raisins give the hog a 

 hard, sweet meat and are much sought after by the butchers. Care 

 must, however, be exercised in feeding raisins to hogs, as they are full 

 of sugar, and consequently too rich when fed alone. They heat the 

 animal up so that the hogs lose flesh and will kill the little pigs of a 

 farrowing sow. For fall and winter feeding, pumpkins, citrons and 

 alfalfa are the best feed to give the hogs in conjunction with the raisins, 

 but in the spring a change is found very beneficial. 



Many people feeding raisins to hogs are not having the success 

 they should because they overfeed their porkers. A pound of raisins 

 a day is ample to start in with. After the system of the hog has become 

 accustomed to the raisins the amount can be increased so that the last 

 three weeks each hog should get about four pounds of raisins a day. 

 The last ten days, when the finishing touches are being put on, the hogs 

 should be allowed all they can get." 



Wine grapes rich in sugar have been cheaply dried on the ground 

 and used to advantage for hog feed. One grower says that in 1908 

 failing to get $6 per ton for his grapes, he dried them and fed them to 

 hogs. Having more than the hogs required, grapes were fed to the 

 horses : "The horses soon got a taste for them and seemed to thrive 

 well on the new diet and in a short time became fat and sleek, while 

 they were being worked as hard as ever, and we continued to feed them 

 dried grapes and have kept it up for a whole year. The effect seems 

 to have made the old horses five years younger, both in looks and in 

 ability to work. The hogs fattened up so quick that we thought the 



