8 BULLETIN 68, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



the crop is gathered with but very little waste. Most varieties of 

 peas are comparatively large and difficult to cover. What is shat- 

 tered usually lies on the surface of the ground until picked up later. 



The hogs are turned into the field about the time the last peas 

 are nearly mature. In most districts they may be used until about 

 October 1, or until there is danger of the crop being damaged by wet 

 weather. A protracted autumn rain falling upon a heavy crop that 

 the hogs have not cleaned up may cause the peas to sprout. To 

 prevent this the vines are sometimes burned as soon after the rain as 

 they are dry enough. Burning the vines leaves the peas lying upon 

 the surface of the ground. It is not necessary to burn the vines, 

 however, if a movable fence is used and the hogs are made to clean 

 up the crop in small areas that will last from two to three weeks each. 

 Since ripe, mature peas are rich in protein, green succulent feed in 

 addition to the peas will help to balance the ration. 



Corn. — Where corn is successfully grown it is an excellent crop to 

 hog down. Carefully conducted tests at the Minnesota experiment 

 station show that hogs waste no more corn in the field than when fed 

 in lots, and that they gather it as clean as most men do in husking. 1 

 Farm experience also bears out this conclusion. Corn is advanta- 

 geously used from the time the ears are well glazed until the weather 

 becomes unfavorable and the ground muddy. In some districts of 

 the Northwest, where the rainfall is scant, corn can be hogged off 

 far into the winter. There is slightly less waste if a movable fence 

 is used and the hogs are not turned into more corn than they can 

 consume in 15 or 20 days. Especially is this true when the ground 

 becomes wet and muddy. 



Barley. — As a crop to hog off, barley is used during the summer, 

 autumn, and winter. Because the beards, when dry and hard, are 

 so severe on the mouth of the hog, the common beardless barley is 

 generally used during the summer and early autumn. The bearded 

 varieties usually outyield the beardless considerably, and for this 

 reason the former are generally preferred for late autumn and winter 

 use. There are some, however, who prefer the beardless varieties 

 for all seasons. 



If sown very early in the spring, beardless barley generally ripens 

 about ten days or two weeks earlier than winter wheat. This makes 

 it one of the first crops available for hogging off in the early summer. 

 The hogs are turned into the field when the first patches are ripening, 

 or when the kernels are in the stiff-dough stage. 



Hogs do only fairly well on mature bearded barley when the beards 

 are dry and stiff. After the autumn rains have softened the beards 

 and kernels, however, they take to it readily. For late autumn and 



i Gaumnitz, D. A., Wilson, A. D., and Bassett, L. B. Pork production. Minnesota Agricultural Ex- 

 periment Station, Bulletin 104, p. 63-119, 9 fig., 1907. 



