2^4 SWINE IN AMERICA 



over the field a few days after turning tlie hogs out and 

 got less than a bushel of corn from what remained 

 standing." 



Bulletin No. in. Bureau of Plant industry, U. S. De- 

 partment of Agriculture, ij authority for this : "An Iowa 

 farmer began hogging down corn several years ago, 

 using 20 acres the first year. He watched carefully the 

 feeding of the hogs on this field and concluded that no 

 more corn was wasted than would have been left in 

 the field by the average busker. Since that time he has 

 hogged down all his corn, thus saving the expense of 

 husking. This man says the cost of husking for one 

 year will fence the field hog-tight if there is already a 

 wire fence for cattle. Husking 40 acres of corn yielding 

 40 bushels per acre, at four cents per bushel, amounts to 

 $64. n the 40 acres are a square field this allows 20 

 cents a rod for the fence the first year. With a cattle 

 fence already provided this will buy the wire to make 

 it a good hog-tight fence. Besides this there are two 

 great objects to be attained by this method of harvesting- 

 corn: (i) The improvement of the land and (2) the 

 health of the hogs. The farmer referred to says that in 

 his first year's experience he snapped 20 acres of corn 

 beside the field hogged down. The next spring both 

 were sown to small grain under the same conditions and 

 with the same preparation. The wheat on the land where 

 corn was hogged down made five and the oats seven 

 busliels more to the acre than did the other. The differ- 

 ence is just as noticeable in a succeeding corn crop. The 

 husks, cobs, stalks, and leaves all remain on the land, and 



