SWINE 



549 



At the Tennessee station chopped cow- 

 pea hay was fed to hogs that received a 

 small allowance of skim milk. In this 

 instance the hogs ate the hay reluc- 

 tantly and made good but less profitable 

 gains than where more skim milk was 

 fed. 



Soy bean hay — One of the most suc- 

 cessful hog growers in Illinois winters 

 all his pigs over on a light grain ration 

 with soy bean hay. 



Acorns — When hogs were fed acorns 

 at the Tuskegee agricultural college the 

 meat produced was soft and the lard 

 oily and did not harden readily except 

 when corn was fed. The flavor, however, 

 was good. The acorns had a tendency 

 to produce constipation. They were suc- 

 cessfully stored by collecting and plac- 

 ing in cool, well ventilated barrels. 

 Many hogs are fattened in some por- 

 tions of the South on beech mast, the 

 pork thus produced being considered of 

 superior flavor and quality. 



Molasses — I n feeding cane molasses 

 it is recommended that only a small 

 amount be fed at first, say 1 ounce daily 

 for a pig weighing 50 pounds, and grad- 

 ually increasing the ration up to 4 

 pounds daily at a weight of 200 to 230 

 pounds. When waste molasses from a 

 beet sugar factory was fed to pigs at 

 the New York station at Cornell, unsat- 

 isfactory results were obtained. Two 

 out of five hogs fed the molasses died, 

 apparently from some form of poison- 

 ing. Recently at the Utah station beet 

 molasses in small amounts up to 4 

 pounds for hogs weighing 130 pounds 

 gave good gains, having a feeding value 

 of about $1 per 100 pounds. At the Wis- 

 consin station hogs maintained them- 

 selves and made some gain on sorghum 

 sirup skimmings alone. When fed with 

 corn meal very good gains were made 

 on this material. 



Cottonseed oil—Crude cottonseed oil 

 was fed by Dinwiddie at the Arkansas 

 station for 20 weeks in amounts exceed- 

 ing that contained in fatal rations of cot- 

 tonseed meal without injurious results. 



Lamb's quarters (Chenopodium album) 

 boiled and fed to hogs as one-fourth of 

 the grain ration at the Canada station 

 had very little value. 



Giant lily_The bulb of this lily (J)y- 

 anthes excelsa) was readily eaten by 

 hogs in New South Wales when cooked 

 and a little ground corn added. 



Ashes, salt, copperas, etc, for hogs 



At the Minnesota station fattening hogs 

 which had access to charcoal during the 

 fattening period made considerably bet- 

 ter gains than hogs fed without char- 

 coal. Hard wood ashes or charcoal 

 should be available to hogs being fat- 

 tened on corn at all times. The experi- 

 ments of Henry have shown that if 

 ashes or bone meal are fed in addition to 

 corn alone to hogs the strength of the 

 bones is doubled and about 25 per cent 

 less food is required. Hard wood ashes 

 are best. Corn cob ashes also give good 

 results. Sifted coal ashes and even soft 

 coal are effective, especially for hogs 

 on an exclusive corn diet. 



One feeder gives the following mix- 

 ture which may be fed with advantage 

 to hogs as a kind of tonic : Two parts 

 linseed meal, four parts soft coal, four 

 parts wood ashes or charcoal, one part 

 air slaked lime, one part salt; feed all 

 they will eat once a week. Pigs fed salt 

 with their rations at the New York 

 state station have made better gains than 

 those not receiving salt. The Michigan 

 station recommends small amounts of 

 salt, especially when cooked beans are 

 fed to hogs. Large quantities of salt 

 should not be fed, since it may reduce 

 the gains. 



Bone meal was fed by Forbes at the 

 Missouri station to hogs being fattened 

 on corn alone, with very beneficial re- 

 sults. About two pounds of bone meal 

 was fed to each hog every month, or 

 about an ounce a day. If, however, 

 mixed grain rations are given or skim 

 milk or pasture, all of which supply ash 

 material, it is doubtful whether bone 

 meal would be of value. 



Copperas is occasionally added to the 

 drinking water of swine as a kind of 

 tonic. 



Salt and ashes — A good mixture to 

 keep in a box to which hogs may have 

 access at all times is made of salt and 

 hard wood ashes in a proportion of two 

 pounds salt to a bushel of ashes. Some- 

 times a few ounces of copperas is added 

 to this mixture, which acts as a kind of 

 tonic. 



Pure, clean water should be given in 

 abundance to fattening hogs, aside from 

 the swill they receive. At the Maine 

 station pigs weighing 109 pounds each 

 drank approximately 7 quarts of water 

 daily and made nearly as good gains as 

 pigs receiving but half this quantity of 



