136 SWINE 



they are supplied, and converts them into their con- 

 stituent parts or food nutrients, such as water, protein, 

 carbohydrate, ether extract or fat, and mineral matter. 

 These can then be used fo*r the structure of the various 

 body tissues. 



When feeds are used as the basis of swine feeding, it 

 can easily be seen that there is danger of supplying more 

 of one class of material, or one nutrient, than the pig can 

 use to the best advantage, and at the same time supply 

 too little of some other nutrient. Consequently the foun- 

 dation upon which the common practice of swine feeding 

 is built is not as good as it should be. Nevertheless, 

 through a long series of years it has come to be com- 

 monly known that certain feeds, when used under certain 

 conditions, will produce desirable results and others will 

 not. Conditions, however, are so numerous and so varia- 

 ble, and the requirements of the animal body seem to be 

 so exact and to have never been accurately determined, 

 that the common practice of swine feeding does not as a 

 whole give as good results as it should. 



WATER. 



With this system of feeding the pig is usually given free 

 access to water. He is allowed to drink as little or as 

 much of this as he will, and very often is allowed to use 

 it as a wallow, thus helping to keep the animal cool dur- 

 ing the hot weather. For such purposes it is very essen- 

 tial that the water be pure and wholesome. Very often 

 the hog is considered as a scavenger and is required to 

 drink filthy and unwholesome water, which of course is 

 not conducive to the best results. 

 PASTURE. 



Pasture plays a very important part in the common 

 practice of swine feeding. Besides getting fresh and 



