976 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



pork is soft. I first used a Prindle steamer, then an Anderson, 

 the latter costing me one hundred and sixty dollars. I used it 

 two years, and was obliged to throw it away. I am done with 

 all fancy implements. At present prices of corn and pork I 

 find clover and whole corn best, except for sows and pigs, and 

 I feed them slop made from ground feed." 



Still another gentleman, Mr. H. P. Beattie, of Davenport, 

 Iowa, wrote to Mr. Emerick in response to his letter of inquiry 

 on the subject of cooking food for hogs. He says : % "I have 

 cooked or steamed corn for hogs for four years. My hog-house 

 cost me nearly one thousand dollars, and the pens are so 

 arranged that I can keep them perfectly clean. The hogs are 

 allowed to go out for water to runs where there is clean gravel, 

 and the pens are swept every day. I have a steam-engine, 

 corn-sheller, mill, vats, and every convenience that money can 

 buy, and I have come to the conclusion that there is no advan- 

 tage in cooking food for hogs. I have now large casks for sour- 

 ing slop for hogs, so arranged that I can pump water into them. 

 I start with three or four bushels of fine meal and water enough 

 to thin it, stir every day, and when it sours begin feeding, and 

 by the addition of meal, water, and the house-slops keep it in 

 the right condition. I find it an advantage to put some flax- 

 seed into the slop, as I think it keeps the hogs healthy. I find 

 this better than any cooked food." 



Mr. Emerick says : " When I began this investigation I was 

 under the impression that steaming food for farm stock could 

 be made quite profitable, and I have pushed these inquiries 

 solely with a view to determine whether I would introduce the 

 business on my farm, without expecting at all to prepare this 

 paper for the public, and now in summing up the matter, by 

 making a careful estimate of the character of the testimony, I 

 come to the conclusion that the margin of profit is too small 

 to induce me to undertake it." 



A series of experiments were conducted for nine years 

 (1870-1878 inclusive) at the Maine State College. Four pigs 

 were fed each year, two eating raw meal while the other two 

 were eating cooked, the same quantity of meal being given in 



