THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



179 



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TfTf TI ' HIf TTTl 



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JACK STARR, OE MIDLAND, TEXAS, AND HIS PRIZE-WINNING DUROC JERSEY PIG 



When this pig was 10 weeks old and was turned over to Jack, as his pet, it weighed 29 

 pounds. Less than nine months later it weighed 450 pounds and had won five blue ribbons 

 and $25 in cash for its youthful master. 



was $9.30. The value at the end was 



$46.17 and the profit was $28.87. 



THE CHEAP COST OP PRODUCTION 



"On account of the hot weather, I kept 

 him a few days after the contest ended, 

 and when I butchered him he weighed 

 267 pounds on foot and 227^/2 pounds 

 dressed. He dressed out 85 per cent. I 

 received 25 cents a pound, which made 

 me a total of $56.87. 



"After the contest was over I wanted 

 to see how my results compared with 

 some other experiments, and this was 

 what I found : Carlyle, of Wisconsin 

 University, found that one acre of rape 

 equals 2,436 pounds of corn meal and 

 wheat shorts when fed in combination 

 with these feeds. Taking one-sixth of 

 this, although my patch was larger, it 

 would make 406 pounds of concentrates 



that m 



Pi) 



could have eaten from the 



rape, not considering the oats and clover. 



I fed 217 pounds of concentrates and 

 500 pounds of milk, which is equal to 100 

 pounds of concentrates. Adding the three, 

 I found that the pig could have eaten the 

 equivalent of 723 pounds of concentrates. 

 The Alabama Station reports that rape 

 makes a saving of 200 pounds of grain 

 for every hundred pounds gain. This 

 compared favorably with my results. 



"I figured that the cheap cost of pro- 

 duction was due to three things : First, the 

 high protein content of the concentrates; 

 second, good health of the pig, due to 

 great variety of feed and sanitary con- 

 dition of the lot and sleeping quarters ; 

 third, the pig consumed a large amount 

 of rape, due to good health and appetite, 

 thus reducing the amount of other feeds. 



"Another thing that I learned was that 

 if a boy wants something decidedly in- 

 teresting he should by all means get a pig* 

 and get into the game. When the contest 

 is over he will say that he has learned 



