116 SECOND THOUSAND QUESTIONS IN AGRICULTURE 



dry. It does not need to be soaked for more than twelve hours, but 

 the pigs will eat it much more readily than dry. It can be soaked in 

 water or in the skim milk that is being fed with it. The most econom- 

 ical ratio to feed it in is one pound to three pounds of skim milk. 



Whole barley at $23 per ton is somewhat cheaper than shorts at 

 $26 per ton, but for younger pigs we would recommend a mixture of 

 the two rather than either one alone. Especially is it not advisable to 

 feed shorts alone. The following ration should give desirable results: 

 Barley three parts, shorts one part, and skim milk twelve parts, by 

 weight. That is to say, we would feed three pounds of skim milk for 

 each one pound of grain mixture. The shorts may be slightly reduced 

 in amount in proportion to the barley as the pigs increase in size. 

 Prof. J. I. Thompson, University Farm. 



Molasses for Pigs. 



Is stock molasses good for growing pigs I' 



Molasses is primarily a fattening feed and does not, therefore, 

 supply the kind of nutrients that a growing pig needs. It is composed 

 of 50 to 60 per cent of sugar and similar substances, and only a few 

 per cent of digestible protein (flesh-producing substances). On 

 account of the laxative properties of molasses it should, moreover, be 

 fed in only small amounts to young animals. It would be all right, 

 however, to feed a small proportion of molasses with grain and shorts 

 so as to increase the palatability of the ration, say ten pounds for 

 every fifty pounds of ground barley, and forty pounds of shorts. 

 The addition of a little tankage, amounting to about one-tenth of the 

 grain mixture, would further improve the ration for pigs and insure a 

 rapid, healthy growth. F. W. W. 



Feeding Little Pigs. 



What amount of barley should be fed pigs while sucking and 

 also after weaning? I have plenty of alfalfa and alfalfa hay, and skim 

 milk. Will pigs do fairly well on rolled barley and alfalfa, and alfalfa hay? 



Pigs, while sucking and immediately after weaning, will eat 

 approximately six per cent of their live weight, but probably a better 

 plan is to feed them what they will clean up readily in fifteen or 

 twenty minutes of feeding three times a day until they weigh 75 

 pounds, after which feeding twice per day will be satisfactory. As 

 they get older, the percentage of their live weight that they can con- 

 sume will decrease until at 300 pounds, a hog will ordinarily not eat 

 over two and a half per cent of its live weight. Pigs will do fairly 

 well on rolled barley soaked for twelve hours, and alfalfa pasture, but 

 you will probably not get very desirable results in feeding alfalfa hay 

 to growing pigs. They can eat a small amount, but it is too bulky for 

 them. Brood sows can often consume one pound of alfalfa hay for 

 each three pounds of grain, but this ration would be too bulky for 

 growing pigs. Prof. J. I. Thompson. 



