THE CUBA REVIEW 



27 



THE VALUE OF THE HOG 



PORK CAN BE PRODUCED CHEAPEST IN CUBA- 



THE BEST 



-COMBINATION FEEDS 



(U. S. Department of Agriculture Bulletin No. 411) 



The hog is especially adapted to the 

 farmer with small capital, as but a small 

 amount of money is required with which 

 to begin business, and returns begin to 

 come in within a few months after it is 

 started. The sow is a rapid producer. 

 Money is turned rapidly. From an in- 

 vestment in 1 boar and 5 to 8 sows it 

 is easily possible to have for sale from 

 5,000 to 8,000 pounds of pork (live weight) 

 in a year. In other words, the yearly 

 sales should be from two to four times the 

 amount of investment. 



As to feeding, there is no other feed 

 equal to corn for pork production, but if 

 fed alone there are few feeds which are 

 poorer; but if corn is fed in combination 

 with other and cheaper feeds, its use is 

 commended. The hog likes a change in 

 diet and in its wild state will eat roots, 

 nuts, fish, grass, snakes, fruit and pretty 

 nearly everything eatable besides. 



Where green and pasture crops can be 

 made to spread over twelve months of the 

 j^ear, pork can be made cheaper than any- 

 where else. 



Cowpeas or soy beans and corn make 

 a satisfactory feed, and in fact legumes 

 should always be made use of when plan- 

 ning a succession of crops for hogs. Pea- 

 nuts, especially, rank high as a food for 

 fattening hogs. Experiments in Alabama, 

 on poor soil, using corn only for feed, show 

 the cost of the grain for 100 pounds gain 

 to be $7.73, and it required 611 pounds of 

 corn. With Spanish peanut pasture, 148 

 pounds of corn were used and the cost 

 for 100 pounds grain was reduced to $1.85. 



In some cases 1 acre of peanuts took the 

 place of 85 bushels of corn, and when there 

 was a fair crop, each acre was equal in 

 feeding value to from 25 to 40 bushels of 

 corn. Root crops cannot be as profitable 

 used for fattening hogs as some of the 

 crops alread}^ mentioned and very seldom 

 are satisfactory results reported. In one 

 experiment in Alabama the Irish potato was 

 fed both cooked and raw, adding a little 

 grain and skim milk. The test closed 

 when 400 pounds of potatoes had been 

 eaten and no progress recorded. 



Sweet potatoes can be profitably used as 

 a food, but the onl}^ benefit is the saving 

 of harvesting costs. If the hogs do the 

 rooting it is a cheaper food than corn on 

 soils that yield ten to fifteen times as 

 many bushels of sweet potatoes as of corn. 

 As for the best breed, the one the farmers 

 likes the best is the breed for him. The 

 Yorkshire and Tainworth belong to the ba- 

 con type, and the Berkshire Poland-China 

 and Duroe-Jersey to the lard type. To 

 sum up then : 



Pork costs only one-third to one-half as 

 much when pastures are used as when con- 

 centrated feeds alone are used. 



The soils are improved very materially 

 as a result of growing the legumes for the 

 hogs and feeding extra grains to the ani- 

 mals. 



The crops are harvested (through the 

 hogs) without danger of loss from rains 

 and without expense. 



The hogs are under favorable health con- 

 ditions ; therefore losses from disease will 

 be lessened. 



island'' of''8Eba''Sf the LIVERPOOL & LONDON & globe INSURANCE CO. 



This Company will issue Binders on risks in the Island of Cuba at their New York Office 



45 WILLIAM STREET 



Telephone, 3097 John 



Fire and Boiler Explosion 



AGRICULTURAL LIBRARY 



Books on Cane, Tobacco, Coffee, Cacao, Citrus and Other Tropical Fruits 



FREE TO CUBAN PLANTERS 



Address: GERMAN KALI WORKS, Empedrado 30, p. O. Box 1007, Havana 



