210 One Thousand Questions in Agriculture 



Pie-melons are poor feed and pigs which are not given anything 

 better ought to fail. "Green grass and a little whole barley" is much 

 better feed than pie-melons. Pie-melons are useful fed with alfalfa 

 hay or some richer food. 



Wheat or Barley for Hogs. 



Which would be the better grain for me to buy for hog feed; zuheat 

 at $1.30 per hundred, or barley at $1? Would it be ivorth paying 10 

 cents a hundred for rolling, and then haul the grain 8 miles by wagon? 



Wheat is only considered about 10 per cent more valuable as a 

 hog feed than barley, so that in your case, barley at $1 is the 

 cheaper. In Bulletin 80 of the Oregon Station it was found that 

 crushed wheat was 29 per cent more efificient than the whole grain, 

 and it is safe to say that barley will run about the same, enough 

 so at any rate to pay the extra 10 cents a hundred for crushing 

 and the hauling. 



Grain and Pasture for Pigs. 



What is the most profitable amount of grain to feed to spring pigs 

 while on alfalfa pasture, from the time of iveaning to the time of mar- 

 keting? 



We doubt the profit of feeding whole grain to hogs of any age 

 while on green pasture. On almost all kinds of land they will get 

 enough grit to keep their teeth sore, hence they will not masticate 

 the grain thoroughly. Perfect mastication is very essential. We 

 would feed the pigs all the slop that they would clean up good 

 twice a day. The slop to be composed of equal parts of corn, barley 

 meal ground fine, and wheat middlings mixed with milk. There is 

 nothing in all the world like milk for growing pigs. If milk is not 

 to be had, we would add from 5 to 10 per cent meat meal, which we 

 consider next to milk. If whole grain is to be used, it should be 

 thoroughly cooked on account of the pigs' teeth not being in con- 

 dition to chew the hard grain. — Chas. Goodman. 



Growing Pigs on Roots and Barley. 



We can raise all kinds of root crops, such as carrots, sugar beets, 

 rutabagas, etc., and cow peas and pumpkins do wonderfully well. Will 

 hogs do well on that kind of diet, especially if given a little barley with 

 it? 



The plants that you mention are good for hog feeding and can 

 be used to advantage with a little barley as you suggest. None of 

 these plants are, however, rich in protein as alfalfa and the other 

 clovers are. The reason why we get such a rapid and satisfactory 

 growth of young hogs in California is due to the fact that they are 

 largely kept on alfalfa and rapid growth is the product of a suf- 

 ficient protein content in the fodder. Both common field peas and 

 cowpeas do not possess this element, and if you can grow them they 



