SOS 



FARMERS' REGISTER— EXPERIMENTS ON FEEDING SWINE. 



days put upon Indian hasty pudding exclusively, 

 with the Ibllowino; result: 



No. 2 weighed on 30th April, 

 do. do. 20lh IMay, 



gain in 20 daj^s, 



No. 3 weighed on SOtli April, 

 do. do. 20th May, 



gain in 20 days. 



312 lbs. 

 382 lbs. 



70 lbs. 



151 lbs. 

 185 lbs. 



34 lbs. 



The two in the above named 20 days, consumed 

 four and one-half bushels of meal, cooked as 

 above. Meal 78 cts. per bushel. Gain of the 

 two, 104 lbs. in 20 days. 



EXPERIMENT IV. 



Sundry swine purchased from a drove, and led 

 with meal and potatoes, washed and mashed — 



28th March, 1831, 19th May, 1831, 



No. 1 weighed 97 lbs. 165, gain in 52 days, 68 lbs. 



2, do. 134 182, do. 48 



3, do. 100 186, do. 86 



The two following, raised on the farm, and fed 

 as above — 



2.5th April, 1831, 19th May, 1831, 



No. 4 weighed 151 lbs. 206, gain in 24 days, 55 lbs. 

 5 do. 140 165 do. do. 26 



EXPERIMEKT V. 



In this case it was not intended to force their 

 thrill, but to keep the swine in an improving con- 

 dition. They were shoLits of the last autumn, 

 iind were of a good breed. 



Tuesday, 3d April, 1833, put up four shoals, 

 and began feeding them with Indian hasty pud- 

 ding. 



3d April, 22d April, 25th June, 



No. 1, 176 lbs. 202 lbs. gain 25 264 lbs. gain 62 



2, 119 153 " 34 226 " 73 



3, 150 170 " 20 218 " 48 



[Total, 183 pounds. 



4, 121 145 '■' 24 Killed 20th May. 

 From 3d April to 22d April, the above swine 



consumed seven bushels and one peck of Indian 

 meal. From 22d April to 25th June seven bush- 

 els of Indian meal, cooked as above. 



One of the above. No. 4, was killed on 30th 

 May; being absent, the live weight was not ascer- 

 tained. 



On the 25th June, the three remaining hogs 

 were weighed, and in the 63 days from 22d April 

 to 25th June, they had gained iri that time 183 lbs. 

 as above. 



After 30th May, when one of them was killed, 

 one peck of meal made into hasty pudding with a 

 small allowance of the waste of the kitchen for a 

 part of that time, lasted them three days, that is 

 f^ or less than a quart, say | of a quart per day 

 to each. 



OCr- At first we employed half a bushel of In- 

 dian meal to make a kettle of hasty pudding; but we 

 soon found that a peck of meal by being boiled 

 sufficiently would make the same kettle nearly full 

 of hasty pudding and of sufficient consistency. 



The kettle was a common sized five pail kettle, set 

 in brick work in the house: and it was remarkable 

 that the peck of meal produced nearly the same 

 quantity of pudding, that we obtained from the 

 half bushel, which shov/ed the importance of in- 

 ducing the meal to take up all the water it could be 

 made to absorb. 



The price of Indian corn was at that time 75 

 cts. per bushel — 30 (juarts of meal to a bushel de- 

 ducting the toll. The amount of meal consumed 

 in the whole time from 3d April to 25th June was 

 141. bushels — the cost §10,69 — the total gain, 

 making no allowance for the gain of No. 4 from 

 22d x\pril to 30th May, which was not ascertain- 

 ed, was 287 lbs. 



The gain of No. 1, 2 and 3, from 22d April to 

 25th June was 183 lbs. in 63 days; and allowing 

 one peck to serve the three hogs lor three days, 

 required 5^ bushels, the cost of which was iB3,94. 

 The live-weight could not be estimated at less 

 than 4 cts. per pound "when pork was at market 

 6 cts. 



The value of the 183 lbs. therefore was equal to 

 S7,32, or at 5 cts. to i9,15 cts. 



The gain of the swine for the first 19 days, 

 from 3d to 22d April, was 



No. 1, 26 lbs. or 1,368 per day. 

 " 2, 34, " or 1,789 " 

 " 3, 20, " or 1,052 " 

 " 4, 24, " or 1,263 " 



The gain from22d April to 25th June, 63 days, 

 was. 



No. 1, 62 lbs. or 0,984 per day. 

 " 2, 73, " or 1,158 " 

 " 3, 48, " or 0,761 " 



The difference of daily gain in the two periods 

 was attributable to the diminished quantity of 

 meal. The question then arises, whether the first 

 mode of feeding was as economical as the se- 

 cond. 



In the first 19 days, 7 bushels 1 peck consumed, 

 gave 104 lbs. gain. 



In the next 63 days, 5 bushels 1 peck consumed, 

 gave 183 lbs. gain. 



Had the first gain been in proportion to the se- 

 cond gain in reference to the meal consumed, the 

 7^ bushels which gav^e 104 lbs. should have given 

 252^ lbs. This great disparity can be explained 

 only in the more economical preparation of the 

 meal, by which a peck, taking up as much water 

 as it would contain, gave a kettle nearly full of 

 pudding, when half a bushel of meal, imperfectly 

 prepared, gave little more. This seems to de- 

 monstrate the gi-eat advantage of cooked food, 

 both as it respects its increase of bulk and the im- 

 provement of its nutritive properties. Whether it 

 would apply to those substances, whose bulk is 

 not increased b}' cooking, equally as to Indian meal 

 and the like, is a matter which experiments only 

 can determine. 



Such are some iew trials in reference to 'he feed- 

 ing and fattening of swine, which I have made, 

 or information of which I have obtained from other 

 sources, which may at least lead the inquisitive 

 farmer to further experiments and inquiries, on a 

 subject of great importance to his interest. The 

 inferences to be made from thein I shall leave to 

 others. The results, as will be observed, are not 

 uniform. The thrift of animals must depend on 

 various other circumstances besides the kinds or 



