Miscellaneous Feeding Stuff's. 197 



cattle. WoU of the Wisconsin Station^ found that red clover re- 

 turned 23 per ct. more dry matter and 25 per ct, more crude pro- 

 tein than the same area of carefully cultivated prickly comfrey. 



285. Purslane, Portulaca oleracea. — The succulent vi^eed of the 

 garden, purslane, can often be used to advantage with swine. 

 Plumb of the Indiana Station- fed brood sows 9 lbs. of purslane 

 each daily, along with wheat shorts and hominy meal, and secured 

 fair daily gains. 



286. Acorns. — In some portions of the South and in California, 

 acorns, the fruit or nut of the oak, Quercus, spp., are of importance 

 in swine feeding. Carver of the Tuskegee (Alabama) Station^ re- 

 ports the successful feeding of acorns and kitchen slop to 400 pigs, 

 allowing about 5 lbs. of acorns to each pig, daily. Acorns make a 

 soft, spongy flesh and an oily lard, which can be overcome by feed- 

 ing corn for 2 or 3 weeks before slaughtering time. 



287. Tree leaves and twigs. — The small branches and leaves of 

 trees are regularly fed to farm animals in the mountain regions of 

 Europe where herbage is scarce, and in case of the failure of pas- 

 tures or the hay crop they have been extensively used elsewhere. 

 Tree leaves are more digestible than twigs, and the better kinds 

 compare favorably with ordinary hay in feeding value. Leaves of 

 the ash, birch, linden, and elder are valued in the order given. 

 They are eaten with relish, especially by goats and sheep. These 

 statements apply only to leaves gathered at the right stage and 

 cured substantially as is hay from the grasses. Leaves which turn 

 brown and drop from the trees in autumn are worthless for feed- 

 ing farm animals. 



III. Underground Forage Available at the South. 



Pork production has great possibilities at the South where vari- 

 ous underground crops which can be cheaply grown may be gathered 

 by pigs. This line of opportunity is worthy of considerate atten- 

 tion by southern farmers, since it means not only greatly increased 

 meat production but also improvement of the soil. 



288. Sweet potato, Ipomaea Batatas. — Duggar of the Alabama 

 Station* states that an acre of sweet potatoes yields from 10 to 15 

 times as many bushels as does a corn crop grown on the same quality 

 of land. Both the vines and the roots are used in stock feeding. 

 In a feeding trial with pigs at the above station sweet potatoes gave 



'Ept. 1889. - Bill. 82. ' Bui. 1. * Bui. 93. 



