20 



BULLETIN 68, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTURE. 



large enough to pasture b^^ July 1 to 10. Rape makes excellent 

 green forage while wheat, peas, and corn are being hogged off. 



Gleaning stubble fields. — Wheat farmers who raise hogs give them 

 the run of the stubble fields from the time the grain is harvested until 

 the land is plowed the following spring. They feed upon the heads 

 that are dropped in harvesting and also on the volunteer grain. 



It is frequently supposed that the combined harvester and thrasher 

 w^ll leave so little grain in the field, especially on level ground, that 

 there is nothuig to be gained by gleanmg the stubble with hogs. It 

 is also supposed that in gleaning a large stubble field hogs will do so 

 much travelmg that they make no gains. To show that neither of 

 these assumptions is well founded, the experience of W. H. Steen, 

 Umatilla County, Oreg., in gleaning the stubble field with hogs may 

 be cited. 



On August 24, 1910, 90 head of hogs, weighing 6,261 pounds, were 

 turned into 178 acres of wheat stubble. They were in the field with- 

 out Wi\QV feed until November 1, when they weighed 8,350 pounds. 

 The gain in live weight per acre was 11.73 pounds. The value of 

 the gain per acre (11.73 pounds) at 6, 7, and 8 cents per pound 

 amounts to 70.4, 82.1, and 93.8 cents, respectively. The stubble 

 land gleaned by the hogs is comparatively level, and a good job had 

 been done in cutting the grain with a combined harvester. On steep 

 land the waste in harvesting is always much greater than on level 

 land, and the gain in gleaning the stubble wdth hogs should be cor- 

 respondingly greater. 



GRAIN CROPS TO HOG OFF. 



Table V. — Crops to hog off in the subhumid district. 



Crops. 



When planted. 



Approximate dates when used.i 



Beardless barley 



Early spring 



Tulv 5 to Au£cust 1. 



Winter wheat 



September and October . 



July 20 to August 20. 







July 10 to Noyember 1. 





do 



August 1 to September 1. 





May 1 to 20 



September 1 to November 15. 



Blue barley or common beardless 



Earlv SDrine. 



From beginning ot autumn rains 



barley. 





to midwinter. 



' Because of the great variation in altitude in the more humid portions of the wheat belt, there is a corre- 

 sponding variation in the dates at which crops mature. Barley, wheat, and peas, for example, reach the 

 hogging-off stage much earlier when grown at low altitudes than at high altitudes. For this reason the 

 dates in the above table for using the crops are only approximately correct. 



A discussion of the use of the crops mentioned in Table V will be 

 found on pages 6 to 9 of this bulletin. The growing of wheat and 

 barley is familiar to all and needs no further comment. The growing 

 of field peas and corn are discussed in Popular Bulletins Nos. 36 and 38, 

 and Bulletin 99 of the Washington Agricultural Experiment Station. 

 These bulletins may be had by applying to the Director hi the 

 Agricultural Experiment Station, Pullman, Wash. 



