AUTHOR'S METHOD OF FEEDING 165 



amounts of feed that can be consumed profitably by a pig 

 will depend very largely upon the character of the ration. 

 A bulky ration fed during the early part of a pig's life will 

 increase his capacity so that later in life he can eat more 

 than would be possible if he received only concentrated 

 feeds at first. Again, if too much protein is fed early in 

 life, it will limit the total amount of feed that is eaten 

 and therefore allow the capacity of the pig to be relatively 

 decreased. 



Two bunches of pigs may eat the same quantity of feed 

 at the same time and may produce entirely different re- 

 sults. This may be due to the extent to which the appe- 

 tite of the pigs in the different lots has been developed. 

 If one bunch of pigs eats its feed with greater avidity, it 

 will do better on the feed than the other bunch that has 

 practically all it can eat on the same quantity of feed. 

 That is, the margin above the amount of feed that is 

 given, to the amount that would be eaten if the pigs were 

 put on full feed, is of considerable importance. As already 

 stated, a pig will .make better gains if fed small enough 

 quantities so that he will leave the trough with his appe- 

 tite not quite satisfied. At the same time he should be so 

 fed and trained that he will eat enough for maximum de- 

 velopment. Other factors that exert a considerable in- 

 fluence on the extent and economy of the gains made are 

 the influence of environment and the influence of previous 

 generations. 



INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENT. 



The influence exerted by environment upon animals is 

 of considerable importance. A pig will behave in accord- 

 ance with the conditions under which he is kept. If he is 

 allowed to roam over a large pasture he will, if conditions 



