118 HARRIS ON THE PIG. 



CHAPTER XII. 



EXPERIMENTS IN PIG FEEDING. 



Boussingault weighed a litter of five pigs at the mo- 

 ment of their birth. The smallest weighed 2 1 1 5 Ibs., and 

 the largest 3 1 1 3 Ibs., the average of the whole litter being 

 2 3 | 4 Ibs. each. At the end of 36 days he weighed them 

 again, and they then averaged 17.3 Ibs., showing a gain 

 of nearly 3 Ibs. each per week. During the next five 

 weeks they gained 3 1 1 2 Ibs. each per week. 



The quantity of food consumed was not ascertained. 



Dr. M. Miles, Professor of Agriculture in the Michigan 

 Agricultural College, has made some valuable experiments 

 in feeding young pigs, in which the amount of food con- 

 sumed and the gain each week were accurately ascertained. 



Six grade Essex pigs, two weeks old, were selected for 

 the experiment. They weighed 25 Ibs., or a little over 4t 

 Ibs. each. At the end of the first week they weighed 46 1 1, 

 Ibs., showing a gain of a little over 3 1 | a Ibs. each, a gain 

 of about 90 per cent in one week. At the end of the 

 second week they weighed 84 Ibs. They were then di- 

 vided into two separate pens, three in a pen. The pigs 

 in pen A weighed 43 1 1 2 Ibs., and those in pen B 40 1 1 2 Ibs. 

 At the end of the third week the three pigs in pen A 

 weighed 52 1 1 2 Ibs. ; those in pen B, 54 Ibs. At the end 

 of the fourth week pen A weighed GG 1 !, Ibs.; pen B, 69 1 ]., 

 Ibs. At the end of the fifth week pen A weighed 79 Ibs. ; 

 pen B, 85 1 1 2 Ibs. Sixth week, pen A, 89 1 1 4 Ibs ; pen B, 

 93 1 1 4 Ibs. 



At this time one of the pigs in pen B met with an ac- 

 cident and was killed. It weighed, alive, 30 Ibs., and 

 dressed, 23 Ibs. 



To the end of the eighth week the pigs were allowed 

 all the new milk they would drink, and what corn they 



