BREEDS OF SWINE 463 



was lowest with a consumption of 1 pound of grain to 3 pounds of 

 skim milk. This shows that animals will often consume larger quan- 

 tities of food than they can digest and 1 assimilate with the greatest 

 economy. (Tenn. B. Vol. XVI. No. 3.) The pigs receiving corn- 

 meal and separator skim milk were the most hearty feeders and made 

 the best gains. The cost per pound of gain was over two cents 

 cheaper where skim milk was fed with corn-meal and middlings. 

 Corn-meal produced much better gains and at a cost of 2.93 cents 

 cheaper than middlings. (N. H. B. 113.) 



PASTURE AND FORAGE. 



Permanent Pastures. Until the farmer sees his way clear to 

 make a permanent pasture, or has one already made, he should keep 

 out of the live-stock business. It is, in fact, almost impossible to 

 realize a profit upon any kind of stock without good pastures. There- 

 fore, the first thing to be done when one contemplates engaging in 

 stock raising is to establish a pasture. The South, which is the very 

 section where they can be made easily, is sadly deficient in pastures. 

 No attention has been given to them ; it has all been given to cotton. 

 But the southern farmer, if he will devote some time and effort to 

 the subject, can have as good a pasture as was ever seen in Kentucky 

 or Missouri and have that pasture available for grazing more months 

 in the year than is possible in those States. For a permanent pas- 

 ture there is no combination, either in the North or in the South, 

 that will equal bur clover and Bermuda grass. The Bermuda can be 

 grazed throughout the summer months and the bur clover from 

 January until the Bermuda comes on again. The combination will 

 afford grazing at least ten months of the year. Both plants are per- 

 manent after they are once established. To supplement the perma- 

 nent pasture, temporary pastures should be grown, as cowpeas, pea- 

 nuts, etc., but no farmer who has stock can afford to be without this 

 permanent pasture combination to be ready for use when the tem- 

 porary pastures can not be employed. (F. B. 411.) 



Hog raising can seldom be made profitable (in the South) with- 

 out a good permanent pasture where the hogs can secure a large part 

 of their coarser food at a nominal cost, and where they can have 

 the exercise which is absolutely necessary to good health. If they 

 have an extended range they should make fully half their growth 

 without further cost, and when such a range is not available, pasture 

 should be provided. (F. B. 100.) 



Permanent pastures for hogs are not as desirable as good clover 

 pastures. In fact, they cannot be compared with them. Clover pas- 

 tures are not permanent as most of the clover is killed out the first 

 winter after it is pastured. Quite often wood lots or other pieces of 

 land that cannot be cultivated are fenced for hogs and when large 

 enough may make fairly good pastures, though as a rule, much 

 smaller returns per acre are obtained than from good rotation pas- 

 tures. When such pastures are already provided on a farm, it is 

 probably not wise to change at once. (Minn. B. 104.) 



Plants for Summer Pasture. The pigs which are born in late 

 winter and early spring should be finished for the market, or for 



