FEEDING SWINE 305 



ical method of carrying pigs over summer that are to be fattened 

 later, since such pigs will make rapid gains when put on full 

 feed, and at a slightly less cost than those fed a full ration from 

 the start (Utah Bulletin 94). 



Alfalfa pasture alone will furnish but little more than a main- 

 tenance ration for pigs, ** but if grain is fed, all of this can then be 

 used for production. Two pounds of corn or more per 100 pounds 

 of pigs have been found more profitable than a lighter ration. M 

 When grain is fed, an acre of alfalfa will furnish pasture for at 

 least 2000 pounds of pigs (15 to 20 shoats of medium weight), 

 and will produce 500 to 800 pounds of pork, according to the kind 

 of pigs fed, pasture and weather conditions. 



Temporary Pastures. Eape (Fig. 79), soybean, cowpeas, In- 

 dian corn, sorghum., etc., furnish excellent feed for growing pigs 

 and brood sows and will enable the animals to make rapid gains 

 when supplemented with grain. Pork can be produced more 

 cheaply by feeding grain with green forage than by feeding either 

 alone. The value of rape pasture for feeding swine, especially for 

 breeding sows, is well understood (p. 138). 



Hogging down corn is a common practice of harvesting a corn 

 field in the corn-growing States. The method is especially adapted 

 to sections where labor is scarce. The corn is generally allowed to 

 nearly mature, and pigs of medium weight (80 to 120 pounds) or 

 brood sows are turned in to gather the corn. They will eat the 

 ear corn and leave a great deal of the coarser part of the plant, 

 husks, cornstalks, and cobs to be plowed under, which, with the 

 manure from the hogs, will greatly improve the humus content and 

 the fertility of the land. Incidentally the pigs get considerable 

 exercise and fresh air and will be less susceptible to disease than 

 pigs fed in a dry lot. When the fat hogs are removed from the 

 field, brood sows and pigs may be turned in ; they will clean up and 

 make good use of what is left. Hogs running at large in a field 

 or pasture will be put in prime condition for market if they 

 are fattened in a pen for a period of three to four months by being 

 fed all the corn they will eat, with plenty of pure water to drink. 

 According to Burkett, 16 a 5- to 10- acre field of good corn will carry 

 50 to 75 hogs from the shoat to the finished period. The total 



"Oklahoma Report, 1899; Mississippi Report, 1905; Nebraska Bul- 

 letin 99. 



18 Nebraska Bulletin 99; Colorado Bulletin 2 



""Feeding Farm Animals," p. 254; see also Farmers' Bulletin, 614. 

 Iowa Bulletin 143. 

 20 



