132 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



power. The feed-cutter was designed for three or four horses. 

 When we commenced cutting it so happened that we had only 

 one horse on the power, and, while we were waiting for the 

 other horse, I started the machine to "warm it up." I found 

 that the one horse would just keep the machine and feed-cutter 

 running. That horse might have worked hard all day and 

 not cut a pound of fodder ; all the power would have been 

 used up in running the machine. We put on another horse, 

 and then we could cut a certain amount of feed in a given 

 time. By putting on a third horse we could cut as fast again. 

 In other words, one extra horse cut as much fodder as the 

 other two. 



Professor Miles, of the Michigan Agricultural College, 

 found, in one of his experiments in feeding pigs, that one pig 

 during the month ate forty-eight and a half pounds of corn- 

 meal and lost one pound. Another ate fifty-one and a half 

 pounds and gained four pounds. Another ate one hundred 

 pounds and gained nineteen and a half pounds. All three of 

 the pigs were allowed as much as they would eat. But two 

 of them had poor appetites or weak stomachs, and the two 

 together ate no more food than the third pig ate alone. The 

 result was that the one hundred pounds of corn eaten by the 

 two pigs gave three pounds of pork, while the same amount 

 eaten by the other pig of the same age gave nineteen and a 

 half pounds. The forty-eight and a half pounds of corn eaten 

 by the one pig was barely sufficient to run the machine empty, 

 while an extra fifty-one and a half pounds eaten by the other 

 pig produced about twenty pounds of pork. Now, if Ave 

 could breed pigs that would eat and digest one-third more 

 food, why should we not double the increase? In other 

 words, why should not one hundred and fifty pounds of corn 

 give us forty pounds of pork? I fully believe that this can 

 be done. But we shall not accomplish it until we aim to 

 breed pigs that have great digestive powers. 



Two or three years ago I discussed the question as to how 

 much pork existed in one hundred pounds of corn. Some of 

 the steamer men made such extravagant claims that I wanted 

 to see exactly how much pork there was in a pound of corn. 

 I knew very well that no amount of cooking or fermenting 

 could get more food out of it than it contained. But I found 



