The Feeding of Swine 285 
460. Food requirements for swine. —— The food required for a 
given gain among swine varies with the kind of food and the age and 
weight of animals. Foods vary largely in the energy they contain. 
The older and the larger the animal the more food required for a 
given gain. 
PREPARING FOOD FOR SWINE 
Foods for swine are often prepared by grinding, soaking, or 
cooking. There have been many experiments to determine the 
efficiency of each of these methods. These tests give more or 
less contradictory results, and it is difficult to determine from a 
perusal of the literature to what extent the food is rendered more 
efficient by such preparation. There can be little doubt, however, 
but that each of these methods increases the efficiency of certain 
foods under given conditions. — 
461. Grinding feed. — The advisability of grinding feed for 
swine depends much on the kind of food and to some extent on the 
age of the animals. Most of the experiments have been with the 
grinding of corn, and the results have been varying. With smaller 
and harder seeds and grains, such as peas, beans, millet, and the 
like, there is a much better showing in favor of grinding. The 
Canadian Central Experimental Farm conducted experiments 
which show a saving of 17 per cent in favor of grinding these 
smaller and harder seeds. The same may be true of corn when the 
grain is very hard and dry. 
462. Soaking the feed. —It is a rather common practice to 
soak whole grains and to wet meals before feeding. Soaking is a 
less expensive process and in many instances may be as good as 
grinding. One rather strong objection to feeding soaked grains, 
especially when the animals are used to eating the grains whole, 
is that they are likely to swallow the grains entire without mas- 
tication. Soaking or wetting is, however, a very cheap method 
of preparing hard grains for swine, by rendering them more palata- 
ble and adding succulence. 
