FEEDING SWINE 305 
ical method of carrying pigs over summer that are to be fattened 
later, since such pigs will make rapid gains when put on full 
feed, and at a slightly less cost than those fed a full ration from 
the start (Utah Bulletin 94). 
Alfalfa pasture alone will furnish but little more than a main- 
tenance ration for pigs,“ but if grain is fed, all of this can then be 
used for production. Two pounds of corn or more per 100 pounds 
of pigs have been found more profitable than a lighter .ration. * 
When grain is fed, an acre of alfalfa will furnish pasture for at 
least 2000 pounds of pigs (15 to 20 shoats of medium weight), 
and will produce 500 to 800 pounds of pork, according to the kind 
of pigs fed, pasture and weather conditions. 
Temporary Pastures.—Rape (Fig. 79), soybean, cowpeas, In- 
.dian corn, sorghum, etc., furnish excellent feed for growing pigs 
and brood sows and will enable the animals to make rapid gains 
when supplemented with grain. Pork can be produced more 
cheaply by feeding grain with green forage than by feeding either 
alone. The value of rape pasture for feeding swine, especially for 
breeding sows, is well understood (p. 138). 
Hogging down corn is a common practice of harvesting a corn 
field in the corn-growing States. The method is especially adapted 
‘to sections where labor is scarce. The corn is generally allowed to 
nearly mature, and pigs of medium weight (80 to 120 pounds) or 
brood sows are turned in to gather the corn. They will eat the 
ear corn and leave a great deal of the coarser part of the plant, 
husks, cornstalks, and cobs to be plowed under, which, with the 
manure from the hogs, will greatly improve the humus content and 
the fertility of the land. Incidentally the pigs get considerable 
exercise and fresh air and will be less susceptible to disease than 
pigs fed in a dry lot. When the fat. hogs are removed from the 
field, brood sows and pigs may be turned in; they will clean up and 
make good use of what is left. Hogs running at large in a field 
or pasture will be put in prime condition for market if they 
are fattened in a pen for a period of three to four months by being 
fed all the corn they will eat, with plenty of pure water to drink. 
According to Burkett,® a 5- to 10- acre field of good corn will carry 
50 to 75 hogs from the shoat to the finished period. The total 
i “Oklahoma Report, 1899; Mississippi Report, 1905; Nebraska Bul- 
etin 99. 
* Nebraska Bulletin 99; Colorado Bulletin 2. 
*“ Feeding Farm Animals,” p. 254; see also Farmers’ Bulletin, 614.. 
Towa Bulletin 143. 
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