ROOTS AND DAIRY BY-PRODUCTS 207 



gain in weight is valued at five cents per pound. In another test, 

 sweet potatoes were fed with rape as compared with corn and 

 rape. Pigs fed sweet potatoes and rape made an average daily 

 gain per pig of 0.4 pound, and those on corn and rape, 0.9 pound. 



Florida Bulletin 113 reports an average daily gain per head 

 of 0.65 pound in a 30 days' trial with hogs fed equal parts of 

 corn and sweet potatoes. Corn was valued at $1.'75 and sweet 

 potatoes at $1.00 per hundred pounds. Under this valuation, the 

 cost of 100 pounds gain in weight was $6.85. 



The South Carolina Station found that 500 pounds of sweet 

 potatoes fed alone were equal to 100 pounds of corn, and the 

 Alabama Station obtained 100 pounds gain in weight for every 

 313 pounds of corn fed to hogs pastured on sweet potatoes. 

 Like other bulky, succulent feeds, sweet potatoes give best results 

 when fed with a liberal meal ration — one fairly rich in protein. 



Cassava — This plant grows in Florida and along the Gulf 

 Coast. It grows fleshy roots like the sweet potato. The roots con- 

 tain about 30 per cent starch, but only about 1.1 per cent protein. 



The Florida Station (Bulletin 90) gives results of tests of 

 cassava with swine. In a short test (4 weeks) with nearly full- 

 grown pigs, cassava was fed with about one-third of its weight of 

 shorts. The hogs made satisfactory gains on the average, and a 

 ton of cassava showed a value of $11.86, when the gain pro- 

 duced was valued at five cents per pound. Commenting on the 

 test, the author of the bulletin makes the following statements : 

 " The pigs fed on cassava gained rapidly at first, but towards the 

 end of the four weeks the gain was very slow. . . . Cassava 

 in the raw state does not seem to be palatable even to the hog." 



In another test, cassava alone, and equal parts of cassava and 

 sweet potatoes were fed to two groups of young pigs. In both 

 cases the pigs lost weight. Older pigs showed a very small gain 

 on cassava alone, but it was not a profitable feed used in this way. 



Like roots and potatoes, it would seem that cassava should 

 be accompanied with a liberal meal ration when fed to hogs. 



