136 Pork Production 



balanced ration in this experiment ate 1.89 pounds more 

 daily to each pig than those receiving corn alone, or an 

 increase of 29 per cent. 



The second and perhaps the most important difference 

 in these two rations was that in the amount of feed 

 required to produce a given gain. Those receiving corn 

 alone required 556.6 pounds of feed for each 100 pounds 

 of gain, while those fed 10 parts corn and 1 part meat- 

 meal needed only 450.8 pounds. This is a saving of 

 approximately 106 pounds of feed in the production of 

 100 pounds of gain ; or, in other words, the balanced 

 ration required 19 per cent less feed for the same gain. 

 Expressed in another way, a bushel of corn (56 pounds) 

 in the corn-alone lot produced 10 pounds of pork, while 

 56 pounds of the balanced ration produced 12.42 pounds 

 of pork. Every pound of meat-meal fed in the balanced 

 ration had the equivalent value of 3.58 pounds of corn 

 fed in the corn-alone ration, in producing 100 pounds of 

 gain. If a bushel of corn fed in lot I had a value of 56 

 cents, a ton of meat-meal, as fed in this experiment, 

 would have a corresponding value of $71.60. If the corn 

 is valued at 70 cents a bushel, the value of the meat-meal 

 would be $81.40 a ton; with corn at 84 cents a bushel, 

 the value of the meat-meal would be $107.40 a ton. 



The corn-alone ration did not produce economical gains 

 because corn does not contain sufficient protein or mineral 

 matter of the kinds to satisfy the needs of the pigs for 

 muscle and bone development. Although pigs of this 

 age when fed to such heavy market weights are capable 

 of using large amounts of carbohydrates, or fat-producing 

 foods, their requirements for protein, or growth-producing 

 foods are none the less imperative. An efficient use of 

 the ration is possible only when the supply of growing 



