39 



Winter feeding has proved to be a little more expensive, the ratio being as fol- 

 lows : — 



Summer — 3-5 food units. Winter — 3-7 food units. 



4- " 4-5 



4-6 " 5-2 



The above figures represent the result of carefully conducted feeding tests during 

 many years. They have been verified so often that they are taken as conclusive, 

 not only by the officers of the experiment station and the Department of Agriculture, 

 but by farmers throughout the country. This system of feeding according to the 

 weight of the pigs is believed to give the maximum of profit from the food consumed. 

 This too has the confidence of the feeders throughout the length and breadth of the 

 land. By lectures and the distribution of literature all farmers know these things, and, 

 being educated and thrifty, they do not follow old systems and customs because they 

 are old, but adopt the new because they believe them to be more profitable. The 

 experiment station is believed in, and feeders everywhere are anxious to learn and 

 adopt the methods recommended by these institutions. It must be remembered that 

 those in charge of the station work are not only extremely practical but sufficiently 

 conservative to be sure of the accuracy of their findings before giving them out. 

 Instead of spinning fine theories and endeavouring to work these out, they begin at the 

 other end and consult the pig first and follow the way opened. The result of this is that 

 pig feeding throughout Denmark is extremely uniform. The Commission visited a 

 large number of representative farms and learned by observation that this is the case. 

 All feed milk or whey, and all use green food, while each man uses the particular grain 

 mixture he is able to procure most economically. In some cases home grown barley 

 or oats was being fed, while, in others shorts, bean meal or some other foreign food 

 was in use. These are intelligently blended so as to get the most from the ration. 

 Some feed three times daily, others four times, but all use much the same character 

 of ration. Because the highest quality of bacon is made from pigs finished on barley, 

 practically all feeders use this grain freely towards the last. Following are details of 

 the conditions and practices found to exist on a number of farms visited: — 



Fa7-m 1. — 70 acres; grows 15 acres of roots; keeps 28 cows; turns off 100 fat pigs 

 per year; buys $1,200 worth of grain for cows and pigs; sells $3,500 worth of cream; 

 weans pigs at six weeks ; feeds skim milk, shorts, barley meal and green lucerne chopped 

 and mixed into a slop; sells at 180 pounds at 5 months old; in 1908, sold pigs at 13 

 cents per pound, dressed weight, and made $1.50 profit per pig; in 1909 he hoped to 

 get a profit of $3.50 per pig on account of the better price. 



Farm 2. — 90 acres; milks 15 cows; sells 50 pigs a year; weans at two months; 

 feeds till 5 months old on barley, corn, green feed, shorts, roots and milk; finishes on 

 barley, corn and milk; buys $250 worth of feed a year; grows 4 acres of turnips, 11 

 acres of mangels and 5 of potatoes. 



Farm 3. — 50 acres; sells 40 pigs a year; weans at 6 weeks old; feeds milk, barley, 

 shorts, roots and green feed; finishes at 5 months old on corn, barley and milk; pigs 

 from Danish dam and Yorkshire sire. 



Farm 4. — 80 acres; milks 11 cows; sells 40 to 50 pigs per year; weans at 6 weeks; 

 feeds milk, green feed, shorts and barley meal ; finishes at 6 months old on rye, barley 

 and milk. 



Farm 5. — 120 acres; milks 28 cows; keeps 5 brood sows; sells 90 pigs a year; feeds 

 until 5 months old on milk, roots or green feed and shorts; finishes at 6 months on 

 barley and milk. 



Farm 6. — 70 acres ; keeps 3 Danish sows ; sells 40 to 50 pigs a year ; buys $300 worth 

 of concentrated food; dry sows thin but thrifty, growing pigs a very thrifty lot; pigs 

 finished on barley and milk. 



Farm 7. — 110 acres ; 30 cows ; 14 Danish brood sows ; sells 250 fat hogs per year ; 

 keeps pigs growing nicely on such cheap feed as whey, skim-milk, lucerne and shorts 



