BREEDS OF SWINE 471 



and peas. The 30 pigs were killed out of this pasture November 1 

 without the addition of any other feed and dressed 117 pounds each, 

 at an average age of 196 days. The pigs ate approximately 6 bushels 

 of corn each. When land rent is estimated at $5 an acre> corn at 70 

 cents a bushel, and the cost of seeding the red clover is also taken 

 into account, each pig cost $4.98. 



It is getting to be a common practice in the Middle States, where 

 cowpeas thrive well, to plant the peas in the corn at the last cultiva- 

 tion and graze the hogs on both crops. This method saves a great 

 amount of labor, and the waste of corn is very small indeed if small 

 pigs are given the run of the field after the fattening animals are 

 taken off ; in fact, the loss of corn is not as great as is usually the case 

 when hired help gathers it. (F. B. 411.) 



Soy-Bean Pasture. The soy bean is a very valuable crop both 

 for hay and for use as a pasture for hogs. The Tennessee station, 

 Bulletin 82, has compared the cowpea and the soy bean as to their 

 habits of growth, yields, etc. According to this bulletin the cowpea 

 has the following advantages over the soy bean: (1) The soy bean 

 may fail to come up through a crust which would offer little resist- 

 ance to cowpeas. (2) The germination of the cowpea seed is surer 

 than that of the soy-bean seed, which is liable to be spoiled by heating. 

 The cowpea is therefore better than the soy bean for broadcasting, 

 especially on land that is heavy and liable to bake. (3) The cowpea 

 is much better suited than the soy bean for planting with either corn 

 or sorghum. (4) Cowpea hay is more easily cured by the methods 

 in common use, without the increased loss of either leaves or fruit, 

 than soy-bean hay. 



The soy bean, on the other hand, appears more valuable than 

 the cowpea (1) as a grain producer, (2) as an intensive farm crop, 



(3) as an early hay or grazing crop (for which purposes the early 

 and medium varieties will produce either hay or seed several weeks 

 ahead of any variety of cowpeas which had been tasted at the station) , 



(4) the seed decay more slowly than those of the cowpea when left 

 on the ground, so are better adapted to being pastured off by hogs. 



Rabbits feast upon the soy bean while they will not bother the 

 cowpea at all. Therefore the farmer who plants soy beans should 

 plant enough for both himself and the rabbits. The soy beans proved 

 to be greatly superior to sorghum. In fact, sorghum was practically 

 worthless, while satisfactory results were secured from soy beans. 

 When corn alone was used 61.4 cents were realized upon each bushel, 

 with hogs at 5 cents; but when the corn was supplemented by the 

 soy-bean pasture each bushel of corn used was worth 98.6 cents (al- 

 lowing $8 to make each acre of soy beans) . 



Even when the interest on the land and the cost of putting in 

 the crop were counted against the gains, pork was still made for less 

 than one-half of what it cost when corn was used alone. Again, when 

 corn alone was used only 48.9 cents were secured for each bushel, but 

 when a three-fourths, a one-half, and a one-fourth ration of corn 

 were used along with the pasture the value of a bushel of corn was 



