SWINE 



539 



From all these data we may conclude 

 that cottonseed meal used to balance a 

 carbonaceous ration like corn and corn 

 meal or kafir corn is an exceedingly val- 

 uable feeding stuff used in the propor- 

 tions recommended by the Arkansas sta- 

 tion or in the way suggested by the Ok- 

 lahoma station. Evidently the younger 

 the pig the more injurious the meal. 

 Very rapid gains are made when the 

 meal is fed in small amounts for short 

 periods. 



Cowpeas — Cowpea grain is too expen- 

 sive to feed to hogs under present meth- 

 ods of harvesting. The great value of 

 this crop will be found as pasturage, 

 (see Cowpeas for Pasturage). At the Ala- 

 bama station a comparative test was made 

 between corn and cowpeas alone and 

 mixed as food for pigs. The food re- 

 quired to produce a pound of gain on 

 corn alone was 4.87 pounds; on cowpeas 

 alone 4.80 pounds; on corn and cowpeas 

 (half and half) 4.33. In these experi- 

 ments the manure from hogs fed cow- 

 peas contained about 50 per cent more 

 nitrogen than that from the hogs fed 

 corn. The liver, kidneys, heart and 

 spleen of the hogs fed the cowpeas were 

 considerably larger than the same organs 

 in corn fed hogs and the bones were 

 stronger. On the whole there was a 

 greater proportion of lean meat in the 

 hogs fed cowpeas than in those fed corn. 

 This work shows the value of mixed 

 grain for fattening hogs and the neces- 

 sity for such nitrogenous food as cow- 

 peas for building up healthy, vigorous 

 internal organs and a strong frame- 

 work. 



In a test at the same station of ground 

 cowpeas and corn, versus corn alone for 

 hogs, it required a little more than 8 

 pounds of corn to make a pound of 

 gain and less than 5.3 pounds of tho 

 mixture. 



Distillers' grains— These grains were 

 not relished by hogs in any amount when 

 fed at the Kentucky station. The hogs 

 would not eat this feed until the ration 

 consisted of four-fifths corn and one- 

 fifth distillers' grains. 



Gluten feed^ while a fairly cheap 

 source of protein, is not especially pal- 

 atable to the hogs, nor is it as cheap or 

 valuable as linseed meal. When fed in 

 small amounts, say one part to 10 of 

 corn, much better results will be ob- 

 tained in rapidity and cheapness of pork 

 production than when corn alone is fed. 



As a supplementary ration with corn 

 at the Missouri station, gluten feed 

 proved superior to either gluten meal or 

 germ oil meal for hogs. None of these 

 feeds proved equal to linseed meal as a 

 supplement to corn. 



Kafir corn—The Kansas station was 

 one of the first to demonstrate the value 

 of kafir corn as a grain for hogs. That 

 station has fed kafir corn whole, ground, 

 soaked, alone and in combination with 

 corn, soy beans, alfalfa hay and alfalfa 

 pasture. It has been fed to pigs in all 

 stages of growth. In all 10 or more 

 tests with nearly 400 hogs have been re- 

 ported. These tests show on the whole 

 that kafir corn pound for pound does 

 not equal corn for hogs. Hogs do not 

 relish it as well nor gain so rapidly on 

 it as upon corn. With pigs about 7% 

 months old, red kafir corn had a feed- 

 ing value equal to 84 per cent of that of 

 corn. With pigs six months old, kafir 

 corn fed dry equaled in feeding value 

 93V2 per cent of that of dry shelled corn. 

 Notwithstanding this result, an acre of 

 upland kafir corn at the station produced 

 on an average 487 pounds of pork as 

 against 410 pounds for an acre of up- 

 land corn. This was due to the fact 

 that on the average kafir corn yields 

 better per acre on uplands than corn. 

 The average for 10 years at the station 

 being 46 bushels per acre as against 34 a /2 

 for corn. Equal parts of corn meal and 

 kafir corn meal mixed gave as good re- 

 sults in one experiment as corn meal 

 alone. 



Hogs relish kafir corn at first, but after 

 about four weeks, if not given other 

 feed become tired of it and long for 

 something else. It should therefore al- 

 ways be fed with some other food like 

 skim milk, alfalfa or soy beans. Grind- 

 ing kafir corn increased its feeding value 

 in one experiment 13 per cent. In two 

 other experiments there was a loss of 14 

 and 9 per cent respectively from grind- 

 ing. Soaking the kafir corn for about 

 30 hours resulted in a loss of feeding 

 value of 7 and 17 per cent respectively 

 in two tests. The present method ob- 

 served by the station in feeding kafir 

 corn is to put the whole grain dry into 

 a trough and pour over it enough water 

 or skim milk to thoroughly wet it. 



Millet seed_The South Dakota sta- 

 tion found a bushel of 56 pounds of 

 millet about equal in feeding value to a 



