438 SWINE IN AMERICA 



process" linseed-oil meal. Another lot of the same num- 

 ber was given the same ration, except for the substitu- 

 tion of skim milk for the gluten and linseed meals. The 

 nutritive ratio was practically the same in the two ra- 

 tions, but in the ration in which skim milk was mixed 

 25 per cent less grain was required than in the other. 

 With the skim milk ration the average daily gain was 

 1.54 pounds, and with the other 1.12 pounds. 



SOUR MELK 



Skim milk which has soured may be fed with good 

 results, and experiments seem to show that if there is 

 any difference in the feeding value of sweet and sour 

 skim milk, it is probably in favor of rather than against 

 the latter. This was the case in tests at the Vermont 

 station (Sixth Annual Report, p. 49), where an experi- 

 ment concluding two years of investigation was sum- 

 marized as follows : "Four pigs on sweet skim milk dur- 

 ing the growing period, from May 23 to October 13. 

 gained 172, 177, 179 and 187 pounds respectively, a total 

 of 715 pounds. During the same time the four pigs on 

 sour skim milk gained 171, 173, 166, and 178 pounds, a 

 total of 688 pounds. Thus, in each case the pig on sweet 

 milk gained more than its mate on sour milk : an average 

 of 6H, and a total of 27 pounds. If the experiment had 

 stopped here, the verdict would have been decidedly in 

 favor of sweet milk, but when the crowding for market 

 began, results were just reversed. During the finishing- 

 off process, from October 13 to November 11, the pigs 

 on sweet milk gained yy, 65, 55 and 43 pounds, a total 

 of 240 pounds; while the pigs on sour milk gained 82, 



