FEEDING SWINE 



295 



for converting feeding stuffs into human food, and he often does it 

 under very adverse conditions as regards care and attention, and 

 without being particular as to either the character of the feed or 

 the quarters he occupies. No farm animal appreciates good feed 

 and comfortable quarters, however, or responds more readily to 

 good treatment, than do swine, but none are more abused in these 

 respects. The pig is an omnivorous eater and can fatten on feed that 

 other stock will not touch, but the best results in feeding pigs, as in 

 the case of other farm animals, are secured when they receive 

 good, wholesome feed and are given careful attention. Under 

 these conditions, swine raising is especially profitable, and while 

 it requires a smaller investment in animals and equipment, it will, 

 as a rule, yield quicker and relatively larger results than any other 

 branch of animal husbandry. 



FIG. 71. A group of young Berkshire pigs. (Iddings.) 



Swine are remarkable producers of fat (Fig. 71). The com- 

 position of the increase in body weight in the case of fattening 

 swine, as determined by Lawes and Gilbert, is as follows: Protein, 

 1.4 per cent ; fat, 71.5 per cent ; mineral matter, 0.1 per cent; water, 

 22.0 per cent, showing that the fattening process in the case of 

 these animals, still more than with other fattening stock, consists 

 largely of an accumulation of body fat (p. 20). 



Birth Weight and Gains Made by Pigs. Pigs, when far- 

 rowed, will weigh from about one and a half to three pounds each; 

 two and a half pounds may be considered an average weight for our 

 common, medium-sized breeds. The number of pigs in a litter will 

 average about nine. Young pigs ordinarily gain more for every week 

 as they grow older, but there is a gradual decrease in the rate of 

 gain to body weight. The largest returns for the amount of feed 



