492 



DOMESTIC ANIMALS, DAIRYING, ETC. 



As showing the increased cost per pound of gain with the in- 

 crease in weight, Professor Henry, of the Wisconsin Station, has com- 

 piled the results of more than 500 tests made at many different ex- 

 periment stations. More than 2,200 hogs were used in these tests, 

 and the work has been so extensive and carried on through so many 

 years that the results may be regarded as very conclusive evidence. 

 The figures are as follows : 



From these figures it is seen very plainly that the greatest as 

 well as the most profitable gains are made on the lighter hogs, the 

 last column showing a constant and almost regular increase in the 

 amount of feed consumed for each 100 pounds of gain. Up to the 

 time when the pigs weighed from 200 to 250 pounds each it required 

 an average of 422 pounds of feed for each 100 pounds of gain, 

 while for those exceeding 250 pounds in weight 523 pounds, or 

 nearly 24 per cent more food was required to produce an equal gain. 

 Pigs weighing less than 100 pounds each made the greatest gains 

 for the food consumed, needing only 347 pounds of feed for each 

 100 pounds of gain, and, if feed were the only consideration, the 

 100-pound pig would be the most profitable; but there are other ex- 

 penses which must be charged against him. The cost and care of 

 the boar and sow are the same whether the pigs are butchered at 

 100 or 500 pounds. Losses are much more frequent among young 

 pigs than among those which weigh more than 100 pounds each, 

 and, while there is a limited demand for "pig pork" at good prices, 

 such pork can not be sold in unlimited quantities, as packers want 

 only hogs which are fairly well matured. These expenses, risks, 

 and market conditions all combine to make a somewhat heavier ani- 

 mal more profitable, even at some additional expense for feed. Al- 

 though the figures given above represent the actual amounts of food 

 consumed by pigs of different weights, they do not represent exactly 

 the cost of the feed. The food of the younger pigs must consist 

 largely of the more costly feeds, shorts, oats, pease, etc., while the 

 older animals can be kept in good condition on coarser and cheaper 

 foods, such as sweet potatoes, sorghum, or artichokes. When steers 

 are being fattened on whole corn, hogs running in the same feed 

 lot will secure a large proportion of their feed without expense from 

 the droppings of the cattle. This will not be the case, however, 

 when the steers are fattened on other feeds, corn meal giving very 

 little feed for the hogs, and droppings from the steers fed on cotton- 



