AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 75 



FEEDING EXPERIMENT WITH DIFFERENT BREEDS 



OF SWINE. 



The'following breeds of swine were represented in this experi- 

 ment : Berkshire, Cheshire, Poland China, Chester White and 

 Yorkshire. Two animals were used of each breed, one male and 

 one female, both of which were from the same litter. 



The persons of whom the pigs were purchased and the ages of 

 the animals at the time of beginning to feed them, were as fol- 

 lows : Berkshire, bought of J. W. True, New Gloucester, Me., 

 age, six weeks ; Cheshire, bought of C. C. Phelps, Vernon, N. 

 Y., age, eight weeks; Poland China, bought of Hon. Rufus 

 Prince, So. Turner, Me., age, six weeks; Chester White, bought 

 of F. J. Fogg, Dexter, Me., age, five weeks; Yorkshire, bought 

 of B. F, Briggs, Auburn, Me., age five weeks. 



As can be seen farther on, the feeding began the last of April 

 and the first of May. The food of the pigs consisted of skimmed 

 milk and wheat middlings throughout the entire experiment, with 

 the exception of a small amount of Hungarian grass and corn 

 fodder which were fed in September. On August 20th, one of 

 the Berkshire pigs appeared to be somewhat lame, and a few days 

 later her appetite began to diminish. Late in October, one Poland 

 China and one Chester White began to be lame and exhibited a 

 poor appetite. The Cheshires and Yorkshires continued to be in 

 perfect condition throughout the entire experiment and showed 

 greater power to withstand confinement and high feeding than did 

 the animals of the other three breeds. It is not claimed, how- 

 ever, that this is a general characteristic of these breeds. This 

 experiment was divided into three periods, the first of which ended 

 on August 2nd, at the time when the amount of skimmed milk 

 was considerably diminished. The second period extended from 

 Aug. 3rd, to September 6th, at which latter date the amount of 

 milk was again diminished. From September 7th to the end of the 

 experiment constitutes the third period, during which time but a 

 little milk was fed, wheat middlings constituting nearly the entire 

 amount of feed, although during this time 150 pounds of Hun- 

 garian grass and corn fodder were given each lot of animals. 



The first table which follows gives the weights of the pigs at 

 the beginning and end of each feeding period, the increase in 

 weight of each lot for each period, as well as the daily rate of 



