18 



BULLETIN 488, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



This lot was fed 1,098 pounds of corn. For each 100 pounds of corn 

 fed this lot gained 36.2 pounds. The daily net return per acre of 

 pasture was $1.09. In lot 8, which also received corn, the sows were 

 gilts and were much lighter than the old sows in the other two lots. 

 At the beginning of the experiment the two sows weighed 408 pounds, 

 and when taken off the plat on June 9 they weighed 430 pounds, a 

 loss of 38 pounds. The initial weight of the 15 pigs was 118 pounds 

 and the final weight 541 pounds. The total gain of the lot was 385 

 pounds. "While on pasture this lot was fed 884 pounds of corn, the 

 lot producing 43.8 pounds of gain per 100 pounds of grain. On an 

 acre basis, the daily net return for pasture was $1.17. 



The initial and final weights for both sows and pigs, with their 

 loss or gain, and the amount of grain fed for the 1914 lot and the 

 three 1915 lots are given in Table VI. 



Table VI. — Weights of the sows <ni<l i>i<is <ni<l the amount of (/rain fed while 

 on one-fourth of an acre of alfalfa pasture for 60 day*, at the Bcottsoluff 

 Experiment Farm in 1914 an d 1915. 



Items of comparison. 



Number of sows 



Number of pigs 



Initial weight of sows pounds . . 



Initial weight of pigs do 



Final weight of sows do 



Final weight of pigs do 



Loss by sows do 



Gain by pigs do 



Net gains do 



Grain fed do 



1914 



As shown in Table VI, the pigs used in 1914 were much larger than 

 those used in 1915, the former being older than the latter. If the lot 

 had not been charged with the loss in weight of the sows, the results 

 would have been still more favorable, especially in the 1914 lot and 

 in lot 7. In these two lots, for some reason, the sows lost much more 

 than in the other two lots. More complete data obtained from 

 pasturing sows and their litters on alfalfa in 1914 and 1915 are given 

 in Table VII, in which the results have been computed to an acre 

 basis. 



As shown in Table VII, the net returns were higher in 1915 than 

 in 1914. The average of the four lots shows that it required 2.62 

 pounds of grain with alfalfa pasture to produce 1 pound of gain, or 

 for every 100 pounds of grain fed the sows and pigs gained 38.2 

 pounds. The average net return per acre of alfalfa pasture for 60 

 clays was $66.84, or a daily net return of $1.11. The lowest net 

 return for the pasture was $54.11 and the highest $77.76. This 

 highest net return was obtained from the lot fed ground barley. 



