386 THE FEEDING OF ANIMALS 



The protein feeds adapted to pigs are gluten meal, 

 gluten feed, buckwheat middlings, brewers' wastes, peas, 

 and middlings. The oil meals, except in small quantities, 

 affect the health of swine unfavorably and wheat bran 

 is inferior to middlings. 



Of the carbohydrate foods, oats, barley, wheat, rice 

 products, and especially corn, are all useful. Although 

 the excessive corn-feeding of swine is to be deplored, this 

 grain is second in value to no other in the pig's ration, 

 and only needs to be reinforced with more nitrogenous 

 feeds in order to find a safe and profitable use. In the 

 later stages of growth or fattening it may well form the 

 major part of the ration. Probably no combination has 

 been found more satisfactory for all around use than 

 skim-milk, wheat middlings, and corn meal, the latter 

 constituting the larger proportion of the grain food. 



480. Forage crops for swine. — ^At the present time 

 much attention is given to forage crops for swine. Clover, 

 alfalfa, rape, sorghmn, rye, and ordinary pasturage have 

 all been found to be adapted to hogs. When fed with 

 grain, economical and satisfactory production is secured. 

 When fed alone, the growth is so slow as to be unsatis- 

 factory. In two experiments at the Wisconsin Experi- 

 ment Station, one acre of rape when combined with grain 

 proved to be equal to 2,767 pounds of com and shorts. 

 Other observations show beyond question that such 

 feeding is practicable and under some conditions profita- 

 ble. Better results seem to follow when the pigs are 

 allowed to graze than when the fodder crop is cut and 

 fed to animals confined in pens. 



