58 HIGGLE SWINE BOOK. 



Another recent change in public opinion on the 

 question of swine and pork is shown in the market 

 demand for a lighter and leaner animal than was 

 formerly in vogue. The cry for lean meat is growing 

 louder. To my ears it sounds like a demand for 

 better flavored and more wholesome pork, and it will 

 no doubt result in a very largely increased consump- 

 tion of this excellent meat for pork is really good 

 meat when not too fat. 



In considering different feeding stuffs for pigs the 

 item of cost must ever come uppermost, and I cannot 

 assume to lay down any hard and fast lines. The 

 feeding of whole grain, for instance, appears to me to 

 be a very wasteful one. It does not pay to produce 

 corn and then carry it back to the field in the shape of 

 unbroken grains in the manure. It is also true that 

 the miller's toll will pay for a great many lost grains 

 of corn, while if properly fed the amount of corn in the 

 manure can be kept down to a low point. Other 

 stockmen may do as they find best, but I shall calcu- 

 late my pig rations on the idea that all the food fur- 

 nished will be digested, and not passed on to the 

 manure pile. I find that if pigs are given time to chew 

 their corn properly they swallow but few whole grains. 

 It is when they are in a hurry that they bolt it whole. 



The practice of fattening hogs on the undigested 

 corn left in the manure of cattle is a very general one, 

 and it is not uncommon for pigs to find much food in 

 pig manure itself. 



Scattering the corn is one way of making them take 

 more time when eating. Yet I rather prefer to have 

 all grain ground, except when fattening hogs on corn, 



