358 



CORN 



grown by the use of corn. For the young pig, corn lacks two essen 

 tial constituents, protein or muscle-forming, and ash or bone-forming. 

 The stunted, stubby, early maturing hog is the result of early forcing 

 with corn. Formerly, only corn was used. The pasture grass made 

 a splendid supplement. Then concentrates high in protein were fed 

 with corn. With the introduction of alfalfa, greater gains and more 

 general and profitable use of corn will come about. 



Fattening Hogs. A fattening hog requires for maximum gains i 

 pound of protein to 6.5 pounds of carbonaceous constituents. As corn 

 alone has an excess of the latter, so much digestible matter is lost 

 for want of a balance of some other feed high in protein. In Missouri, 

 oil meal has given the best results when fed with corn. 



As a rule, a saving of one-third is made by adding 20 to 30 per cent 

 of some high protein food to a corn ration. 



The following figures taken from Bulletin No. 91 of the Iowa Sta- 

 tion, show the relative value of corn alone as compared with corn 

 and supplemental foods : 



The corn alone to these hogs in dry lot, give smaller daily gains 

 and less profit per bushel of corn fed. The supplemental feeds, al- 

 though having to be bought, brought in larger returns for the amount 

 of corn fed. 



CORN FOR SHEEP. The finishing of mutton has in the past 

 been confined to certain districts of the West and North, as a special- 

 ized industry. However, the recent high prices of lambs upon the 

 markets have opened the way for feeders in the corn belt to try their 

 hand. As a result, the farm yards of Iowa and eastern Nebraska have 

 seen more sheep than ever before. The one feed is corn. As fatten- 

 ing sheep require a very narrow ration, about i to 5, a hay high in pro- 

 tein must be fed in order to produce heavy gains. The corn is usually 

 shelled before feeding, although the lambs are usually started on 

 broken ears. 



As a cheap way of finishing, many lambs have been run in corn 

 fields, beginning as early as September 15th. The weeds and lower 

 leaves are first cleared up, but finally a taste for corn is acquired and 

 soon they are on full feed. Rape sown in the corn at the rate of 5 to 



