1894.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 33. 109 



"What our Experiments teach. 



Briefly stated, from a practical stand-point, these two 

 experiments and many others made at the station teach us 

 the following lessons : — 



I. Skim-milk, together with corn meal, gluten meal, 

 wheat bran, gluten feed, maize feed, etc., combined as 

 above stated, have proved healthy and profitable foods for 

 the production of pork for our markets. 



II. With skim-milk reckoned at 1.8 cents per gallon, 

 gluten feed from $21 to $23 per ton and corn meal at $23 to 

 $24 per ton, we have been enabled in these experiments to 

 produce dressed pork at from 4.6 to 5.3 cents per pound. 

 The net cost of the dressed pork produced (obtained b}^ 

 deducting the value of the manure produced) was from 3.3 

 to 3.8 cents per pound. 



III. Farmers having a quantity of skim-milk at their 

 disposal can utilize it profitably by feeding it to growing 

 pigs, as above described. If this milk can be sold, however, 

 at one cent per quart, or more, it would undoubtedly be 

 more profital^le to sell it than to use it in the production of 

 pork. 



IV. Experiments made at this station have proved that 

 it is not profitable to feed pigs after they reach a weight of 

 180 to 190 pounds, excepting perhaps when pork commands 

 an exceptionally high price. Fed beyond this weight, the 

 food consumed increases and the percentage of gain in live 

 weight steadily decreases, so that the daily cost of food con- 

 sumed is more than the value of the daily increase in weight. 

 This fact has since been confirmed by other stations. 



V. In the last experiment, Lot II. gave slightly more 

 favorable results than Lot I. These results are not decisive 

 enough to enable us to make any deductions, especially when 

 the results of previous experiments at this station with nar- 

 row rations, and experiments elsewhere with both wide and 

 narrow rations, are considered. Repeated trials are neces- 

 sary to establish facts. 



