SWINE HOUSING AND FATTENING. 977 



each case. The pigs were weighed at the beginning of the exper- 

 iment and at the end of each week while it continued. The 

 experiment continued several months each time it was con- 

 ducted. Great care was taken in selecting the pigs, in order to 

 secure uniformity, and to avoid error as much as possible. The 

 pigs were changed about so that those at first getting raw meal 

 received cooked, and vice versa. Excepting the first year the 

 cooked meal was fed cold. The results for nine years are as 

 follows : 



1870, value cooked meal to value raw meal as, . 95.5 to 100 



1871, 74.8 to 100 



1872, 82 to 100 



1873, 91.6 to 100 



1874, 98.8 to 100 



1875 72.3 to 100 



1876, 88.8 to 100 



1877 64.2 to 100 



1878, 78.5 to 100 



Average for nine years, . . . . 83.3 to 100 



These figures are from the report of the Maine State College 

 for 1878. 



It is a matter of surprise that in not a single instance during 

 these nine years did the pigs fed on cooked meal gain as much 

 as those fed on raw meal. With the single exception of pota- 

 toes, I do not believe that it will pay to cook food for hogs, 

 and large experience in feeding both cooked and fermented 

 slop leads me to believe that the former has no advantage over 

 the latter, while it requires expensive fixtures and extra labor. 

 I do believe in warm slop for nursing sows and young pigs in 

 cold weather; but would not advise any expensive apparatus 

 for preparing it, as I have already shown how it can be done 

 cheaply in summer or winter. 



Green Food for Hogs. While corn is the staple food 

 for hogs we can not produce cheap pork on corn alone, and no 

 farmer is prepared to raise hogs largely and economically unless 

 provided with good pasture, with abundant water, and shade. I 

 have little doubt that long-continued corn feeding is one great 

 cause of reduced vitality and predisposition to disease which has 

 made the raising of hogs so precarious during the last quarter 



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