CHAPTER VI 



FEEDING SWINE 



The South can grow pork. — The South can never com- 

 pete with the Corn Belt sections of the North and West 

 in the fattening of pork on corn. By the extensive use of 

 grazing crops we can grow pork of a desirable quality, 

 however, at figures which cannot be equaled under Corn 

 Belt conditions. We should aim to make our hogs only 

 so fat as to make the carcass juicy, palatable and tender. 

 Any fat above this is produced at a loss, for so far as we 

 know eight or ten times the weight of food required to 

 produce a pound of lean is required in the production of 

 a pound of fat. If we must have an extra quantity of lard 

 or fat, we can best afford to import it from the Corn Belt, 

 or, better still, make a more extensive use of our own 

 vegetable fat, cottonseed oil. 



The size of native swine. — The smallness of our native 

 unimproved swine, especially of those farther South, is 

 due to the animals not having had a constant and suffi- 

 cient amount of nutritious food. They are not kept in a 

 healthy and growing condition from the time they are 

 weaned until ready for slaughter. Inbreeding and breed- 

 ing at too young an age may have reduced the size more, 

 but for the most part the inadequate food supply during 

 winter and early spring has been the chief contributing 

 factor. When ample food is supplied a much larger 

 animal will be produced from this native stock, and the 

 animal will be ready for slaughter at a much earlier age 

 than when raised in the usual manner. 



121 



