540 



FARMER'S CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



bushel of 48 pounds of barley. The mil- 

 let yielded at the rate of 30 bushels per 

 acre, while barley went 32.7 and wheat 

 30.3 bushels per acre. In feeding tests 

 of 84 days the gain of hogs on barley 

 averaged 105.5 pounds, on millet 95.5 

 pounds and on wheat 140.5 pounds. The 

 color of the fat and the quality of the 

 meat produced on millet seed was excel- 

 lent, though the pork was a little softer 

 than that produced on either barley or 

 wheat. The millet proved very pala- 

 table to the hogs. It should be fed 

 ground. 



Oats — This grain is not commonly fed 

 to hogs excepting in moderate amounts 

 to brood sows and growing pigs. It is of 

 less value in fattening than most of the 

 other grains. 



Oats either chopped or whole were not 

 relished by hogs at the Oregon station 

 to the same extent as wheat under sim- 

 ilar conditions. When soaked whole oats 

 were fed to hogs as much as 50 per cent 

 by weight of the entire dry excrement 

 was frequently found undigested. The 

 feeding of oats to swine is not recom- 

 mended unless combined with some other 

 feed like ground wheat, barley or shorts. 

 When fed whole at the Ottawa station 

 one-seventh of the grain passed through 

 the intestines undigested. 



At the Wisconsin station, oats in the 

 proportion of one-third ground oats and 

 two-thirds corn meal were fed with good 

 results. Whole oats scattered thinly on 

 the floor are reported excellent for brood 

 sows when maintenance and not rapid 

 gain is desired. Better results were 

 secured from ground oats than from 

 whole grain. At the Utah station, oats 

 produced fat meat of excellent appear- 

 ance and firmer than that from other 

 grain. When oats were fed as the only 

 grain at the Minnesota station they 

 caused a loss of appetite and small gains. 

 Oat feed — When oat feed was used at 

 the Hatch station in Massachusetts it 

 proved only 84 per cent as valuable for 

 fattening hogs as corn meal. In experi- 

 ments reported by the Mississippi station 

 about 20 per cent more oat feed than corn 

 meal was required to produce a pound of 

 gain. Oats were much more valuable 

 as an adjunct to lighten rations than 

 when used alone. Forbes states that 

 cheap grades of oatmeal are very largely 

 used in fattening fine hogs for show, and 

 steamed whole oats are highly valued by 

 some breeders of pure bred swine. 



From the above data we see that oats 

 should be made to form only a small 

 portion of the ration for hogs. They are 

 better ground than whole and better for 

 growing, breeding or stock animals than 

 for fattening, although they produce a 

 good quality of pork and lard. 



Peanuts — At the Alabama station, 

 growing pigs fed for six weeks in pens 

 on unhulled Spanish peanuts made a 

 gain of 9 pounds for each bushel of 

 peanuts fed. One pound of gain was 

 made on the remarkably small amount 

 of 2.8 pounds of peanuts. At the same 

 time other like hogs required 3.7 pounds 

 of peanuts and corn mixed half and half 

 to produce a pound of pork and 10.7 

 pounds of corn alone to make a pound 

 of gain. The pigs fed peanuts produced 

 soft oily pork, but of good flavor. The 

 melting point of the lard produced on 

 peanuts was 76.1° F., while on clear 

 corn or corn and cowpeas the melting 

 point varied from 109 to 114.8° F. The 

 lard made on peanuts solidified only dur- 

 ing the coldest weather of February. 



In one experiment pigs that had been 

 fed exclusively on peanuts were given 

 nothing but corn for a month previous 

 to killing. This had the effect of rais- 

 ing the melting point of lard from 76.1 

 to 101° F. (See also Peanut Pasture.) 

 Peas — Northern or Canada field peas 

 fed at the South Dakota station gave 

 much better results with growing than 

 with older hogs. At the T T tah station 

 where these peas were fed with bran, 

 half and half, they had a value for feed- 

 ing purposes of $1.02 per bushel, while 

 corn had a value of but 70.4 cents and 

 barley 59 cents per bushel. 



Peas, like barley, are one of the stand- 

 ard grains for hogs in Canada. When 

 whole peas were fed at the Central ex- 

 perimental farm only three-quarters of 

 1 per cent of undigested grain was found 

 in the excrement. As rapid gains were 

 made on whole soaked peas as on ground 

 peas soaked, but 17 per cent less ground 

 grain than whole grain was required for 

 a pound of gain. In one test at the On- 

 tario agricultural college it cost $3.97 to 

 produce 100 pounds of gain on hogs fed 

 peas and barley ground and $4.25 when 

 they were fed whole. Pea meal alone at 

 this station resulted in unthrifty ani- 

 mals and poor gains, but when mixed 

 with middlings in the proportion of 

 three parts pea meal to one part mid- 

 dlings, good gains and an excellent qual- 



