1890.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 4. 223 



characteristics will closely resemble the middle Yorkshire of 

 which I have spoken. Nor need this system of breeding be 

 expensive. Already small Yorkshire boars may be bought 

 at prices but little higher than those of our ordinary pigs ; 

 and, with increasing demand, you may be sure the supply 

 will be forthcoming. With pigs so bred we shall have suit- 

 able stock for feeding at a profit ; and with abundant skim- 

 milk and grains at the present prices, if the profit is not 

 realized it will, I think, be the fault of the farmer himself. 



Now, as I have selected the pig and decided that the best 

 use of skim-milk is to feed it out, you are, perhaps, ex- 

 pecting me to give you empirical rules for feeding him. 

 Such is, however, very far from my intention. It is impossi- 

 ble for one man to give hard and fast rules for feeding 

 another's animals. Circumstances, markets, surroundings, 

 all influence the results to such an extent that a ration suited 

 to A's pig may be for from the best or most profitable for 

 B's. Such being the case, I am rather going to endeavor to 

 make clear, first, a few of the elementary principles upon 

 which scientific feeding depends, knowing well that, with a 

 knowledge of principles, native business sense and shrewd- 

 ness will lead most men to the most profitable application 

 thereof. An understanding of these scientific principles, in 

 so far as is necessary to our present purpose, will not, I 

 believe, be found difficult ; for the scientific principles which 

 underlie the feeding of plants afibrd us a perfect analogy, 

 and with these principles I doubt not most of you are 

 familiar. 



You know that, various as are the products of the soil, and 

 numerous as are the vegetable substances — such as starch, 

 sugar, acids, fats, albuminoids, etc. — which these products 

 contain, yet the number of elements which are necessary to 

 feed plants is comparatively small. Many of you know, 

 further, that a beneficent nature supplies nearly all these 

 elements. You know that, as the result of numberless exper- 

 iments, it has been demonstrated that in the majority of 

 cases, if we apply but three elements — nitrogen, potassium 

 and phosphorus — in suitable forms, jy^oportions and quanti- 

 ties, the soil is made productive, the plant is fed. Especially 

 do I want you to keep in mind what you all very well 



