68 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



forth during the past four or five years in 

 San Diego county and some other parts of 

 the state. Probably nowhere within the 

 limits of California are the outdoor condi- 

 tions of climate entirely adapted to the 

 successful production of pines. In a few 

 places here and there, sheltered from frost 

 and wind, they may be grown in the open 

 to a limited exent, but not otherwise. 

 Protected by "sheds" however, as is cus- 

 tomary in certain parts of Florida, the pine 

 could doubtless be made a profitable crop 

 in California. The pireapple sheds of 

 Florida are merely coverings made of nar- 

 row laths erected upon posts six or seven 

 feet in height. The sides are also lathed 

 with strips an inch or so apart, the same 

 as the top. The design is to protect from 

 frost and wind, while yet allowing enough 

 sunshine for growth and development. 



It is alleged that one shed near Orlando, 

 the county seat of Orange county, Florida 

 covers six acres of ground and contains 

 60,000 pineapple plants. Certainly 10,000 

 plants upon one acre would seem to be too 

 many for best results, and the great out- 

 door plantations along the southern coast 

 of Florida, as well as in the tropics, should 

 seldom, if ever, contain more than half 

 that number of plants per acre. 



The pineapple is so named from its gen- 

 eral resemblance to pine cone, and belongs 

 botanically, to the Bromillaceae, to which 

 long moss also belongs, and such plants 

 are said by botanists to be able to subsist 

 as air plants without contact with the 

 earth. However this may be, the pine- 

 apple thrives best in a good soil and with 

 considerable cultivation and care. The 

 plants seldom grow to a height of more 

 than four feet and the average height in a 

 well cultivated plantation is probably about 

 three feet. Pineapple fields in Southern 

 Florida have been known to yield crops 

 worth $1,000 per acre. But this is not 

 common. 



PASTURE FOR PIGS. 

 Exercise, good air and sunshine play a 

 much greater part in pig raising than most 



people commonly suppose. It is for this 

 reason that the western practice of rely- 

 ing quite largely on grazing for the nour- 

 ishment of swine is so successful. 



This has never been so clearly demon- 

 strated as by a series of pig feeding tests 

 extending over four years, made by Mr. A. 

 A. Mills of Utah. We give the result 

 below: 



1. Pigs allowed to run at large over 18 

 acres of good pasture and fed a full ration 

 of grain made the most rapid growth and 

 required the least grain for one pound of 

 gain. 



2. Pigs confined in movable pens in the 

 pasture grow more slowly than those run- 

 ning loose, and require an increase of 20 

 per cent of grain to make one pound of 

 growth. 



3. Pigs at pasture, fed under three diff- 

 erent conditions, gained 92 percent more 

 and ate but two per cent more than the 

 pigs getting grass and otherwise similarly 

 fed but confined in pens. The grain re- 

 quired to produce one pound of gain was 

 increased 40 per cent with those in pens 

 over those in pasture. 



4. Pigs fed but part rations of grain at 

 pasture made satisfactory gains. Those at 

 pasture getting the three-fourths grain 

 ration gained more than those fed a full 

 grain ration and grass, either in the yard 

 or in the pens. 



5. Pigs pastured without grain made 

 about the same growth for three seasons in 

 succession, this averaging .36 of a pound 

 a day. 



6. As nearly as can be judged, exercise 

 alone increased the gain 22 per cent., and 

 the amount eaten but 1.5 per cent., but 

 decreased the amount required for one 

 pound gain 22 per cent. 



7. Grass when cut and fed green to pigs, 

 whether fed in pens or yards, or with full 

 or part grain rations, or without grain, 

 proved to be of very little value. 



8. Pigs confined in pens and fed on 

 grass alone, mostly lucerne, for 91 days, 

 lost over a quarter of a pound per day. 



9. The average of the pigs fed on grass 



