DESCRIPTION OF THE EXPERIMENT. 



Six grade Chester wliite pigs, three sows and three barrows, 

 weighing from 25 to 30 pounds each, served us for the experiment. 

 They were kept in separate pens, and fed three times per day, namely 

 in the morning at six o'clock, at noon, and in the afternoon at five 

 o'clock, with all the food the}' would eat up clenn. It was always 

 our object to supply them plentifully, but at ihe same time not to 

 glut them, and thus in a measure destroy their appetites. 



The liquid food consisted of from three to six quarts of skim milk 

 per day, depending upon the size of the pigs and the quantity of 

 milk at our disposal. It never exceeded six quarts per day. The 

 grain fed was corn meal and gluten feed. The gluten feed being 

 quite rich in protein, served to keep our rations within the limits 

 desired when the supply of skim milk failed, and four ounces of 

 gluten feed was in a general way reckoned equal to one quart of 

 skim milk. 



NUMBER OF FEEDING PERIODS. 



The experiment was divided into three distinct feeding periods. 

 The first period continued till the pigs reached 80 pounds in weight, 

 and the food consisted of two ounces of corn meal to every quart of 

 milk with a ratio of 1 : 3.3. As our supply of milk at this season 

 was rather limited, four ounces of gluten feed was substituted for 

 each quart of milk, and this gradually increased the ratio to 1 :4. 



The second period began when the pigs reached about 80 pounds 

 in weight and continued till 125 pounds weight was reached. The 

 food consisted of the skim milk at our disposal, which varied some- 

 what, together with corn meal and gluten feed to give the desired 

 ratio of 1 : 4.5. 



The third and last period began when the pigs weighed 125 pounds 

 and ended when 180 pounds was reached, at which time they were 

 slaughtered. The feed consisted of skim milk, and of a mixture of 

 one and one-half parts corn meal and one part gluten feed, fed in 

 sufficient quantities to satisfy the appetite of the animals. 



The pigs were sold at 7J cents per pound of dressed weight, and 

 the total cost for food consumed per pound of dressed pork pioduced 

 was 4.64 cents, and the net cost, found by deducting the value of the 

 manure produced by each pig from the total cost, was 8.3 cents per 

 pound. The following tables will, we believe, present sufficient data 

 to enable the reader to understand the experiment, and grasp the 

 results obtained. 



