BREEDS OF SWINE 491 



poavine, and peanut pastures. If soy beans are planted, turn on 

 them also. (U. S. Cir. 30.) 



After weaning hogs should be supplied with a good pasture, a 

 leguminous pasture preferred. Alfalfa affords one of the best pas- 

 tures obtainable for young pigs. With a good pasture and a half 

 ration of grain they will make good and profitable gains up to the 

 time they are ready to finish for the market. (F. B. 411.) 



Overfeeding and lack of exercise cause the thumps in young 

 pigs, but usually in Colorado, when pigs are thought to have the 

 thumps, they actually have pneumonia, due either to damp beds or 

 exposure to draughts. The sow pig intended for a breeder should 

 be pushed for the first year and given feeds that will make rapid 

 growth, but that will not fatten. Such feeds as milk, alfalfa pas- 

 ture, or hay, and moderate quantities of grain, such as wheat, peas, 

 barley, milo maize, and shorts. Ample exercise every day is neces- 

 sary for health and to develop muscles and lungs. If the sow has 

 made a good growth, she may be bred to drop her first litter when 

 she becomes twelve months of age. The gestation period for the sow 

 is 112 days. (Colo. Cir. 2.) 



Fattening for Market. The cost per pound of growing and fat- 

 tening a hog for market increases with the size and age of the ani- 

 mal. It costs much less to raise two hogs weighing 300 pounds each 

 than to grow one weighing 600 pounds, and even 500 pounds is too 

 heavy to be profitable under ordinary circumstances. A hog must 

 consume a certain amount of food to maintain his present weight, 

 and for that food the owner receives no returns. Whatever the 

 hog can be induced to eat in excess of the amount required for main- 

 tenance goes to the production of growth, and it is from this excess 

 that all gains and profits are made. 



These facts make it to the interest of the feeder to induce his 

 hogs to eat all they can digest and to secure gains as rapidly as pos- 

 sible. A pig which is made to weigh 200 pounds at six months or 

 300 pounds at a year old is always profitable, while if it takes two 

 years to make 300 pounds the last 100 pounds will usually be made 

 at a loss. As the rate of growth, both in proportion to the size of the 

 animal and to the amount of food given, decreases as the hog be- 

 comes larger, there must come a time when a pound of increase will 

 cost more than it will bring on the market, and it is a nice point 

 with the feeder to decide when that time will come and to market 

 his hogs before it is reached. Ordinarily, this time will come when 

 the hog weighs from 250 to 300 pounds, but may be reached either 

 above or below those weights. A hog 1 year old and weighing 300 

 pounds in November may still make a profitable gain if he has the 

 gleaning of a recently harvested cornfield with an abundance of 

 cowpeas, the leavings of a sweet potato field, or any similar food 

 which would otherwise be wasted, but if none of these feeds are avail- 

 able, and all the food consumed must be purchased, it will be more 

 profitable to sell at once, even if the weight is not more than 200 

 pounds, 



