124 HOW TO FEED YOUR HOGS 



will do under good conditions. This also means that where you 

 self -feed pigs according to the free-choice style with shelled corn 

 and meatmeal tankage on alfalfa pasture, with pasture such as this 

 used (which yielded better than five tons) there would be enough 

 pasture to produce 5,555 pounds of hog gain. Do not misunder- 

 stand this. The acre of pasture plus whatever corn is neces- 

 sary, and also tankage, will produce this amount of gain not the 

 pasture alone. In addition to pasture, there must be fed, according 

 to these results, 342.7 pounds of corn and 31.7 pounds of meatmeal 

 tankage for each 100 pounds of gain, in taking the pig from wean- 

 ing time up to 225 pounds. 



Note still further that pasture was not saved by limiting the 

 corn ration. Note also that it was lost by limiting the ration. The 

 pigs went to market earlier and had better markets when they were 

 pushed hard from spring to fall. Stick to alfalfa if you can grow 

 it. It is a great forage crop. 



Rape. How about rape pasture ? Rape is a good second to 

 alfalfa. It is a wonderfully good crop. We find in our work that 

 we can carry on rape pasture anywhere from 15 to 30 pigs to the 

 acre, depending on how they are handled. This is on land that 

 yields a little more than 50 bushels of corn, on the average. Dwarf 

 Essex rape of either the European or Japanese varieties is splen- 

 did. It can be drilled, broadcasted, or put in rows. We prefer 

 drilling. It can be put in early in April (central Iowa conditions) 

 and be ready for pasture about July 1 or sooner. It does well in 

 certain sections of the south, and is a superior crop in Canada. 

 In the south it is used as a winter crop. It is what one might 

 call a cool-weather plant. 



One could get along in the summer without any supplementary 

 feed, if he had corn or barley, with rape pasture. It is ordinarily 

 advisable to feed some tankage or milk or similar feeds in addition, 

 also salt, but the point is that rape balances corn and barley to 

 pretty good advantage. 



Analysis of Rape. A recent analysis at the Iowa station 

 shows in the leaves of rape dry matter 29 percent protein and 8 

 percent fibre. This compares favorably with alfalfa; in truth, it 

 runs higher than alfalfa on the average. The leaf stems analyzed 

 14 percent protein and 19 percent fibre. This shows a little less of 

 protein but more of fibre than the leaves. The main stems analyzed 

 12 percent protein and 41 percent fibre. This shows them un- 

 desirable and explains the reason why pigs 'do not eat the stems; 

 it also shows why they prefer the leaves, which run higher in 

 proteins and much less in fibre. The leaves often run as high as 

 three times as much in protein as the stems, and yet contain only 

 one-fifth as much fibre. The roots run 7 percent protein and 52 

 percent fibre; hence it is seldom that pigs root up the roots of 

 rape because there is little feeding value to be found therein. 



