SUGAR AS FOOD FOB PIGS. 135 



CHAPTER XIV. 



SUGAR AS FOOD FOR PIGS. 



Messrs. Lawes & Gilbert also made some experiments 

 on pigs to ascertain the nutritive value of sugar as com- 

 pared with starch. 



Twelve pigs weighing from 72 Ibs. to 98 Ibs. each were 

 placed in four pens, 3 pigs in a pen. Lentils and bran 

 were selected as the nitrogenous food, and in pens 1,2 and 

 3 the pigs were allowed 3 Ibs. of lentil meal, and 1 Ib. of 

 bran each per day, and in addition, the pigs in pen one 

 were allowed all the sugar they would eat, and those in 

 pen 2, all the starch they would eat, and in pen 3 a mixture 

 of equal parts starch and sugar. The pigs in pen 4 were 

 furnished, in separate troughs, all the lentil meal, bran, 

 starch and sugar they would eat. The experiment was con- 

 tinued 10 weeks. In pen 1, the pigs ate nearly 2 Ibs. of 

 sugar each per day, and in pen 2, a nearly identical quan- 

 tity of starch ; the other food being the same in kind and 

 quality in both pens. The increase obtained from 100 Ibs. 

 of food was in pen 1, 20.8 Ibs., and in pen 2, 19.9 Ibs. 



The pigs in pen 3, having a mixture of equal parts 

 starch and sugar, and the same quantity of lentil meal and 

 bran as in pens I and 2, ate 2f Ibs. each per day of the 

 starch and sugar. The increase from 100 Ibs. of total food 

 was 19.8 Ibs. 



In pen 4, where the pigs were allowed all they chose 

 to eat of the different foods, each pig ate per day on the 

 average, lentil meal 4 Ibs. 6 oz., bran 3 oz., starch 3f oz. 

 and sugar 2 Ibs. 2 oz. They ate more food and gained 

 more rapidly than in any other pen. The increase from 

 100 Ibs. of food was 21.3 Ibs. 



