BREEDS OF SWINE 443 



ticed is a difficult undertaking, particularly in the winter season, 

 during the summer many grazing crops can be utilized, and some of 

 these, like the winter cereals and cowpeas and soy beans, which pro- 

 duce an abundance of grain, enable the farmer to keep his hogs in a 

 growing, thriving condition, with little labor and at a low cost, as 

 they can be made to harvest their own food; and the exercise they 

 enjoy in the open keeps them in a healthy condition, and produces a 

 finer quality of meat than is generally obtained from pen-feeding on 

 corn alone. Naturally the farmer should endeavor to finish as many 

 of his hogs in the summer season as possible where dairy by-products 

 are not available, but even under the most favorable management 

 there will be a large number of animals which must be maintained 

 or fattened during the winter season, and how to handle these hogs 

 most advantageously is a serious problem and one to which some con- 

 siderable attention has been given, owing to its general interest. 



Corn Alone Not Satisfactory. It is now clearly recognized that 

 dry feed alone, especially where corn is the exclusive ration, does not 

 provide the most satisfactory combination of nutrients for the hog, 

 and the chief object of the present investigation was to determine the 

 influence of adding various protein amendments to a ration of corn. 

 The fact that corn is so generally cultivated has led to its almost ex- 

 clusive use as a fattening food for hogs in many localities, which is 

 unfortunate in the light of investigations made in the past few years, 

 as the results distinctly show that much better gains would be ob- 

 tained were the corn combined with some other food which would 

 supply the needs of the growing animal to better advantage. For 

 fattening purposes, corn stands supreme, but it is not a complete and 

 perfect food for either growing or fattening animals, and this state- 

 ment applies to all classes of live stock. From the standpoint of the 

 hog feeder, corn is deficient in both protein and mineral matter, 

 especially the latter. Since the uniform and rapid development of 

 the animal depends on the maintenance of the skeleton or bony 

 framework, the nutrition of the muscles, and the formation of fat, it 

 is essential that such foods be fed as will provide for the needs of the 

 body in the cheapest form. As other grains are rich in some of the 

 constituents in which corn is deficient, it appears that a combination 

 of them will prove effective, and such is shown to be the case by the 

 results presented. 



The common practice of feeding corn alone to hogs would be 

 corrected, were some well known truths more generally recognized. 

 For instance, it is stated on competent authority that the ash of corn 

 is entirely indigestible by swine. Moreover, the withholding of min- 

 eral matter from the hog not only impairs the skeleton, but the whole 

 nutritive process is disturbed as well, and the growth of the animal is 

 seriously retarded if our results are to be relied upon. The fact that 

 gains two or three times larger than those normally obtained on corn 

 alone follow the proper adjustment of the ration is a matter of such 

 far-reaching and economic concern to hog raisers as to command 

 their most- respectful and earnest consideration. (Va. B. 167.) 



