8 FORTY YEARS' EXPERIENCE OF A PRACTICAL HOG MAN 



watering should be ma.de so that all can drink from the central 

 house. Small fields of forage should be grown where a large 

 number of sows or young hogs may be placed after weaning time, 

 or those that have already weaned their litters, or animals being 

 fitted for market that would not necessarily be obliged to remain 

 in the central house and lot, but could run in the larger lots and 

 larger numbers together. I quote the following on the value of 

 forage crops for swine from Bulletins Nos. 136 and 143, from the 

 Iowa Experiment Station: 



"Probably there is no kind of pasture that becomes green and suitable 

 for hogs as early in the season as a field of winter rye, sown early in the 

 fall previous. This rye often furnishes good grazing through the late fall 

 and early winter, or until it becomes covered with snow, then it is the first 

 thing that will furnish a green bite in the spring, coming on much earlier 

 than either alfalfa or clover. 



"Following the early rye comes alfalfa, which furnishes green pasture 

 a little earlier than any of the clovers. By May 1 in the northern latitude 

 red clover will furnish a splendid pasture until such time as it begins to 

 dry and burn by the hot weather. By this time a field of rape should be 

 ready; it is probably as good pasture for making growth and gains as any 

 other one kind of green forage. This should be sown in May and the pigs 

 should be kept off of it until it becomes a few inches high, after which it 

 will stand extremely heavy pasturing. 



"Where one wishes to hog down corn in the fall by turning in a large 

 number to fatten for market, there is nothing that will combine with this 

 as well as Dwarf Essex rape, drilled in between the rows just after the last 

 cultivation of corn. By the time the corn is ready to turn the hogs on you 

 have an ideal ration in the same field; or rye sown with the rape also makes 

 a good combination." 



No greater opportunity exists for cheapening pork production 

 than through the general adoption of a forage crop system for 

 spring pigs. Where alfalfa pasture is used in this climate it should 

 not be pastured earlier than May 1 nor later than November, as 

 it must have enough growth after pasturing to make a cover crop 

 for the winter. Where rape pasture is used it will be found good 

 at any time during the growing season and furnish abundant pas- 

 ture after the clovers are dry and dead; in fact will furnish good 

 pasture until freezing weather comes. It can be used either for 

 pasturing or for soiling, that is, cutting and carrying to the lot 

 where the pigs are kept if they are not turned into the field. 



Young hogs can be pushed very fast by having this good rape 

 pasture and ear corn, plus one-tenth of the corn in meat meal or 

 best quality tankage. This meatmeal or tankage is a great help in 

 furnishing the necessary protein and has a tendency to stop the 

 inclination for rooting that many pigs have when on clover or 

 alfalfa. 



In Winter Quarters. When hogs and pigs are in winter quar- 

 ters with no succulent feed such as pasture, the other feeds may 

 be supplemented by using a good quality of third cutting alfalfa 

 which is greener and better than that of former cuttings. This 

 may be fed whole in racks made for the purpose to save waste, or 

 it may be run through a cutting machine and chaffed, and then 

 mixed 2 parts chaffed alfalfa, one part shelled corn and one part 



