﻿2 BULLETIN 1143, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



and forage crops which of themselves are of secondary importance 

 but which fit in well with approved crop rotations anal agricultural 

 systems. For example: Experiments have shown, and practical 

 farmers have found, that in many parts of the dry-land sections of 

 the State the yields of small grains grown after corn are almost as 

 large as on summer fallow, and the net returns are correspondingly 

 greater when the corn crop can be profitably used. Corn generally 

 has a greater value when fed to live stock than when harvested and 

 sold as grain. The return of fertility to the land through the medium 

 of manure is recognized as a factor in establishing a system of perma- 

 nent agriculture. 



Where animals are produced, raised, and prepared for market on 

 the farm it is generally essential that some sort of pasture be a part 

 of the scheme. The open range or other native-grass pasture answers 

 this purpose in many cases for cattle and sheep. In the more thickly 

 settled communities pasture will often have to be confined to culti- 

 vated crops. Where this is the case, hogs will more often be used 

 than any of the other meat-producing animals. 



With this phase of dry-land farming in mind, a series of hog- 

 pasturing experiments was outlined and begun at the Huntley, 

 Mont., Experiment Farm in 1915. 



PURPOSE AND OUTLINE OF THE EXPERIMENTS. 



The principal purpose of the experiments was not so much to 

 determine the value of the several crops pastured from the standpoint 

 of profit in pork production as to collect agronomic data bearing on 

 the following points: 



(1) The seasons at which the different crops become available for grazing by hogs 

 and the length of time each crop will furnish palatable forage. 



(2^ The carrying capacity or number of hogs per acre these crops will support. 



(3) The possibility of fitting together or matching up these crops, by means of a 

 rotation or otherwise, so that their respective pasture periods will form continuous 

 grazing over a considerable season. 



(4) The agronomic effect of manure, the result of pasturing, on the yield of crops. 



(5) The economic merits of pasturing these crops as contrasted with the usual 

 methods of harvesting them. 



While these five points are of primary importance in this w r ork, 

 the behavior of the animals themselves in point of gain or loss in 

 weight is important as an indicator of the palatability and the 

 quantity of forage produced. For this reason the results of pasturing 

 are presented in pounds of gain. 



Trie plats used in the pasturing experiments were 1 acre in area. 

 They were 620 feet long and 70.3 feet wide. A 7-foot alley separated 

 the plats on their long sides, and a 20-foot road bounded them on the 

 ends. Suitable fencing, shelter, and water facilities were provided 

 for the animals on each plat. 



Pigs of the Duroc-Jersey breed were used in this work whenever 

 obtainable, and the animals were placed on the pasture as soon as 

 the forage was ready. 



Individual hog weights were taken frequently enough during the 

 pasture season to compare the conditions of the animals with the 

 depletion of the forage and to form a basis from which to calculate 

 the grain supplements to be fed. These weighings usually took 



?lace at intervals of 10 to 14 days or oftener as conditions demanded, 

 'he initial and final weights used were generally the average of 

 weighings made on three consecutive days. 



