478 DOMESTIC ANIMALS, DAIRYING, ETC. 



400 pounds of potatoes were eaten, but the pigs failed to make prog- 

 ress and the test was closed. At the Central Experimental Farm, 

 Ottawa, Canada, reasonable results were secured when cooked pota- 

 toes were used, but raw potatoes produced practically no gains. Sub- 

 sequent experience in feeding hogs on sweet potatoes in the ground 

 did not prove to be profitable. The potatoes were not eaten with 

 relish, and after being rooted up they were left upon the surface, 

 some of them remaining there until they decayed. (F. B. 411.) 



In feeding potatoes to pigs during the winter, warm dry quar- 

 ters should be furnished, otherwise the potatoes whether cooked or 

 uncooked may do more harm than good. (N. Y. Cornell B. 199.) 



Silage. At the Virginia Station two brood sows were fed for 

 seven weeks, during winter, exclusively on silage. The animals lost 

 weight, and their general appearance at the end of the experiment 

 was such as to discourage the further use of silage as an exclusive 

 ration for hogs, though in after-fattening these took on flesh as 

 rapidly as did the onas fed corn, showing that the exclusive use of 

 silage had not impaired the digestion. In the experiments in which 

 the silage constituted only a part of the ration, the animals consumed 

 from 28 to 35 pounds of silage and 14 to 21 pounds of corn on the 

 cob per week during a period of ten weeks. The animals were kept in 

 good condition through a severe winter on this ration. By using the 

 silage a saving of nearly one-third in the cost of feed was effected. 

 Experiments at other stations have not generally been very favorable 

 to the use of silage as a food for swine; nor do the results of experi- 

 ments at the Virginia Station do more than indicate that silage is 

 worthy of consideration as a component of a cheap maintenance ra- 

 tion, to be used for such purposes as carrying brood sows over winter, 

 and not for fattening. (F. B. 103.) 



Experiments indicate that silage cannot be profitably substituted 

 for a part of the grain ration with pigs. In this experiment it was 

 fed in addition with some profit, giving quicker gains and keeping 

 the animals in better condition. (Ken. B. 101.) 



Pumpkins. Pumpkins are an excellent feed for keeping hogs 

 in a healthy condition. Many farmers claim that the seeds of pump- 

 kins will prevent worms in pigs and shoats and that a ration of pump- 

 kins fed with grain will keep hogs thrifty and give them a good 

 appetite. A good many wagonloads can be grown on an acre of rich 

 land. Stumpy land or low moist land will grow good pumpkins. 

 (F. B. 331.) 



The cooking of pumpkins does not increase their feeding value. 

 When pumpkins are available for pig feeding they can be fed most 

 economically in connection with cornmeal. While raw pumpkins 

 fed in connection with milk produced a pound of gain at small cost, 

 so few pounds were produced it is advisable to feed cornmeal with 

 them. Apples, even at the low price of 10 cents per bushel, are not 

 an economical food for pigs. (N. H. B. 66.) 



Molasses. Black strap molasses, on the basis of its composition, 

 is of the same class of feed stuffs as Indian corn. It is rich in carbo- 

 hydrates, the same constituent that makes Indian corn valuable as 



