MISCELLANEOUS CONSIDERATIONS 527 



oily pork. In order to firm it such. animals should be fed 

 for 20 to 30 days or even longer, on some such grain as 

 corn, barley or peas. 



Ashes have been found highly useful in feeding swine 

 that are much restricted to a diet of corn. In trials made 

 at the Wisconsin experiment station, swine to which ashes 

 were fed freely with a reasonable amount of salt added, 

 the other food being corn meal, made increase much supe- 

 rior to that made by swine fed on corn meal only, with salt 

 added. The bones of the former were not only larger and 

 stronger than those of the latter, but they contained fully 30 

 per cent more ash. Foods other than corn and the sor- 

 ghums usually supply potash in quantities sufficient to 

 obviate the necessity of feeding ashes. 



Charcoal serves about the same use in feeding swine as 

 wood ashes (see paragraph preceding). Swine, insuffi- 

 ciently supplied with ash in the food, will consume con- 

 siderable quantities of charcoal. This in corn-growing 

 areas, and in these the principal need for such feeding ex- 

 ists, may be cheaply supplied by charring corncobs in a 

 hole in the .ground of any convenient size, and covered with 

 a metal cover, after the mass of cobs have become suffi- 

 ciently aglow with flames coming up from beneath. Wood 

 charcoal or charred corncobs may be most conveniently fed 

 from self-feeders from which the swine may partake at 

 will. 



Bone meal when pure, fresh, and made from healthy 

 animals, may be fed with profit under some conditions to 

 both swine and cattle. It will serve about the same purpose 

 in feeding swine as hard-wood ashes, when about one-third 

 of the quantity is fed. When cattle are much prone to 

 chew bits of bone or wood, which happens in some in- 

 stances, it indicates an insufficient supply of phosphates 

 in the food. This deficiency may be made up by the ju- 

 dicious feeding of bone meal. The necessity for such feed- 

 ing, however, exists but seldom. 



