Management and Feed of Swine. 557 



912. The fattening period. — Having developed a strong frame- 

 work of bone, ample lean-meat tissues, and a roomy, vigorous diges- 

 tive tract, there now remains the final operation of laying on fat. 

 If the pig has been properly cared for up to this point this is the 

 simplest and easiest part of the whole process. Fattening is best 

 accomplished by restricting the amount of exercise, reducing the 

 allowance of coarse feed, and giving all the palatable carbohydrate- 

 rich concentrates, such as corn, barley, kafir, milo, emmer, etc., the 

 pigs will consume. In the beginning the pigs can still be fed some 

 coarse feed, such as alfalfa, clover, cowpeas, or vetch, green or 

 cured, and at all times rape, roots, middlings, and bran. As fat- 

 tening progresses exercise should be more and more restricted and 

 the roughage almost entirely eliminated. A limited quantity of 

 nitrogenous feeds such as Canada peas, cowpeas, soybeans, peanuts, 

 linseed meal, wheat middlings, tankage, and dairy by-products are 

 extremely helpful in stimulating the lagging appetite and furnish- 

 ing the now limited nitrogenous requirement. Nearly all the nutri- 

 ment should come from the rich, starchy, fat-making feeding stuffs, 

 such as corn, barley, kafir, milo, emmer, etc. If the fattening period 

 is short, only the small grains need be ground, but as the animals 

 grow fat and the digestive system loses in vigor because of confine- 

 ment and long feeding, all grains should be ground to meal in order 

 that the intake of feed may be as large as possible without cloy- 

 ing. (822) 



If the shotes have been properly brought forward the fattening 

 period should not exceed eight weeks, unless the animals are to 

 be made unusually fat or there is a rising market which warrants 

 continued feeding. After the first few weeks ,of heavy feeding 

 more and more feed is required to produce a given gain, and this 

 fact should always be remembered by the feeder. (830) All fatten- 

 ing animals should drink water freely, being forced to do so, if 

 necessary, by placing it in their feed. At all times coal ashes, wood 

 ashes, lime, etc., should be accessible, as elsewhere recommended. 

 (922) Fattening pigs should be fed twice daily, and possibly three 

 times toward the close of the period when on ground feed and 

 getting little or no roughage. 



II. Feeds for Swine. 



913. Corn. — Indian corn must continue to be the great fattening 

 food for swine in America, because of the enormous quantities 

 produced and the great potentiality of this starch-bearing grain in 



