20 BULLETIN 488, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



the corn has been grown on land which had produced alfalfa the 

 previous year. This explains the difference in yields, as will be indi- 

 cated later. 



In 1912 seven hogs were used in the test, one old sow weighing 384 

 pounds and six shotes with an average weight of 72 pounds. The 

 hogs were on the plat 16 days. When removed the lot weighed 974 

 pounds, the total gain having been 157 pounds. The sow made a 

 daily gain of 1.44 pounds, while each shote, weighing less than one- 

 fifth as much as the sow, gained 1.24 pounds per day. In other words, 

 the sow made 0.6 per cent daily gain and the pigs made 1.51 per cent 

 daily gain. The average yield of five similar quarter-acre plats of 

 corn in the same field was 795 pounds. If it is assumed that the 

 hogged plat yielded the same as this average, the hogs paid $1.38 per 

 hundredweight for the corn in the field. 



Six thrifty shotes, averaging 92 pounds each, were used in 1913. 

 These shotes had been on alfalfa pasture with a 2.3 per cent ration 

 of corn during the summer. The shotes were on the corn plat 28 

 days. When they were taken off they weighed 800 pounds, having 

 gained 253 pounds. The corn yield was estimated at 1,154 pounds. 

 On this basis the hogs paid $1.53 per hundredweight for the corn. 



The six hogs used to harvest the corn plat in 1914 were thin and 

 small. During the summer two had been on alfalfa pasture without 

 grain and four on alfalfa pasture with a 1 per cent corn ration. Their 

 total initial weight was 380 pounds and their total final weight was 

 642 pounds. The hogs were on the corn plat 49 days and gained 262 

 pounds. The yield of the corn plat was estimated at 1,142 pounds. 

 On this basis the hogs paid $1.60 per hundredweight for the corn 

 in the field. 



Three shotes, with a total initial weight of 224 pounds, were used 

 in 1915. Their final weight, after they had been on the plat for 19 

 days, was 277 pounds, the gain being 53 pounds. This poor return 

 was due to the fact that the corn plat was almost completely hailed 

 out. The yield of the plat was estimated at 370 pounds. In this test, 

 if the estimated yield is correct, it required 694 pounds of corn to 

 produce 100 pounds of gain and this gain cost $7.43. 



The results of the four years' tests, computed to an acre basis, are 

 given in Table VIII. These results are not strictly comparable, as 

 there were two varying factors. The average initial weight of the 

 hogs varied from 117 pounds in 1912 to 63 pounds in 1914, and the 

 number of days that the hogs were on the corn varied from 16 in 

 1912 to 49 in 1914. Small shotes will make more gain than larger 

 hogs from a given quantitj^ of feed. Hogs that have just been taken 

 from alfalfa pasture will make very good gains for a short period 

 on corn alone, but when fed corn alone for a long period the gains 

 are not so good. In other words, 100 pounds of corn will make more 



