80 SWINE GEORGE E. DAY. 



Unlimited exercise during tlie fattening period is not con- 

 ducive to cheap production. At the same time, exercise 

 has a good effect upon the firmness of the bacon produced. 

 At the Ontario Agricultural College, the cheapest gains, 

 and an excellent quality of bacon, were obtained b}' allowing 

 the hogs onl_v a limited amount of exercise in small outside 

 Awards adjacent to the pens, and feeding a limited ration of 

 mixed meal, accompanied with all the green food the_v would 

 eat. By a limited meal ration is meant an allowance slightly 

 less than the hogs would eat if given the opportunity. This 

 method was found to be more economical than feeding meal 

 on pasture, though it required more labor. It is a notable 

 fact, however, that hogs which have run at large until they 

 weigh about lOO pounds in thin condition, may be finished 

 on almost auA' meal mixture and still produce firm bacon. 

 This fact illustrates the marked influence of exercise upon 

 firmness of bacon. 



2. Finishing the Fat Hog. 



The general principles which apply to feeding bacon hogs 

 apply to feeding all classes of hogs. The aim must be to 

 keep the animal in a healthy, thrifty, growing condition 

 from start to finish. The main difference between feeding 

 the two classes of hogs lies in the fact that the fat hog is usu- 

 ally fed to a greater weight and made much fatter than the 

 bacon hog, which means a longer period of feeding. The 

 feeding of corn does not appear to produce the injurious 

 effects in the case of the fat hog that it does in the case of 

 the bacon hog. In the United States, corn is regarded as 

 a food which produces a firm quality of fat, and the feeding 

 of corn is recommended by some Experiment Stations for 

 the express purpose of making the meat firm. It is a little 

 difficult to account for this apparent discrepancy between 

 American and Canadian experience with corn feeding, but 

 a reason for this difference may exist in the fact that Ameri- 

 can hogs are fed for a greater period of time than Canadian 

 hogs, and that they are more highly fattened. It will be 



