228 SWINE IN AMERICA 



as do the clovers, the cowpea, the field pea, the soy bean, 

 and tlie vetches, and while it is furnishing this valuable 

 food it is at the same time adding fertility to the land. 

 Alfalfa pasture or alfalfa hay and corn are very nearly 

 a balanced ration for animals, and while it is better to 

 have a grain ration fed with it to hogs as well as 

 other animals, yet a healthier, thriftier hog can be 

 raised on alfalfa alone than on corn alone. Many 

 instances are found where hogs have been raised on al- 

 falfa alone. One Oklahoma farmer marketed in De- 

 cember, 1905, 61 head of spring pigs eight months old 

 that averaged 171 pounds. These hogs had run from 

 the time they were little pigs with their mothers on 15 

 acres of alfalfa without any grain. They sold on the 

 market for 5>2 cents a pound. This made the cash value 

 of the alfalfa pasture about $38.35 per acre. As will be 

 seen, this is light pasturing, as there were only about 

 four pigs per acre besides the brood sows. 



"As already stated, it is much better economy to fur- 

 nish a grain ration with the pasture, as it results in better 

 gains and a better product. One man estimates that 

 it takes from one-half to one-third less corn on alfalfa 

 pasture than on a straight grain ration to make a hog 

 ready for market. Many let the hogs run on alfalfa 

 until about five to six months old, by which time they 

 reach a weight of 75 to 125 pounds, feeding just a little 

 grain ; then they feed heavily for about two months and 

 sell the hogs at eight months old weighing 200 to 225 

 pounds. One farmer, who raises about a thousand 

 hogs a year and who in one year sold $11,200 worth, 

 makes a practice of growing his hogs on alfalf?, pasture 



