122 SECOND THOUSAND QUESTIONS IN AGRICULTURE 



Spineless Cactus for Hogs. 



In regard to spineless cactus as a hog feed, -what is the proper 

 way to feed it? And what else should be given ^lnth it to make a good 

 ration? Has it any fattening value? The variety I have has some spines. 

 Is it safe to feed these? Or should they be scraped off? 



The slabs of spineless cactus may be fed to hogs either whole or 

 chopped and mixed with grain, say two to three pounds of barley per 

 hundredweight of hog. It is well relished by both cattle and hogs 

 and has a certain feeding value, but it is a very watery feed, containing 

 only ten to fifteen per cent of dry matter, and cannot, therefore, be 

 depended upon to furnish the main part of the ration, especially in the 

 case of hogs, as the stomachs of these animals do not have sufficient 

 capacity to enable them to take care of large quantities of bulky feeds. 

 One hundred pounds of spineless cactus contains less than one pound 

 of digestible protein and about eight to twelve pounds of digestible 

 carbohydrates and fat, depending on the age of the slabs. Remove 

 the spines so as to guard against the hogs getting sore mouths. 

 F. W. W. 



Hogs for Fruit: Not Fruit for Hogs. 



/ am thinking of buying twenty acres of unprofitable vineyard and 

 starting in with hogs. As the vines go I could supplement pasture 

 and raise my own- feed, and keep more hogs. In your opinion would ,it 

 pay to feed three and a half cent raisins to hogs? How many hogs could 

 I keep on twenty acres providing I pull up some of the vines and supply 

 them with the necessary pasture? 



We cannot tell how many hogs you can keep on land which is shift- 

 ing from one crop to another and probably both of them poor. But we can 

 safely say that we would not for a moment think of growing fruit to 

 feed hogs; they will save wasting of fruit, but they cannot justify 

 growing fruit primarily for their use. Fruit, especially when dried, makes 

 good hog feed, if wisely fed in connection with other feeds, but does not 

 give high value to it. Four pounds of ripe grapes are equal to one pound 

 of barley, and one pound of raisins is equivalent to one pound of barley; 

 so the hogs might return you one and a quarter cents for your raisins, 

 at the present price of good feed barley. If you wish to grow fruit 

 it will pay to keep some hogs on other land and let them save waste 

 fruit with the alfalfa and grain you grow for them. If you wish to grow 

 hogs, clear off the failing vines and grow alfalfa, Kaffir corn or barley, 

 or else get some good land which does not have to be cleared of unprofit- 

 able vineyard. 



Milk for Hogs. 



Which kind of milk, sour or su'eet, should be fed to hogs, and 

 do they derive more good from the sour milk; also, is it safe to feed 

 the first milk, after a cow calves, to hogs? 



The difference in the results obtained from feeding sweet milk 

 and sour is so small that not much can be claimed in favor of one over 

 the other. It is oftentimes difficult to so arrange the supply of milk 

 that it can always be fed sweet, and for that reason it is advisable 



