FORAGE CROPS FOR HOGS IN KANSAS AND OKLAHOMA. Su 
Where this is possible two litters a year of 200-pound hogs can be 
raised with profit and pork produced very cheaply. 
Wheat will not carry as many hogs to the acre as alfalfa. The 
usual number is about six head per acre, though some farmers claim 
that the maximum is about ten. One man claims that hogs are 
one of the best animals for pasturing on wheat, not trampling it out 
as cattle or horses do. Another farmer of large experience thinks it 
is dangerous to pasture pigs at about weaning time on wheat. He 
has lost twice, he thinks, from that cause. ‘The last time he saved 
only 15 out of 45 head. He claims that wheat is too fibrous and 
collects in balls in a pig’s stomach and intestines, causing inflamma- 
tion, from which the pig dies. It is claimed by some farmers that 
wheat is injurious to hogs just as it begins to shoot in spring. More 
information is needed on this point. The usual practice is to remove 
the hogs from wheat in early spring and put them on alfalfa or other 
summer pasture, so that experience with wheat pasture later in the 
season 1s limited. 
The value of wheat as pasture lies chiefly in the fact that it fur- 
nishes green feed for the hogs at a season of the year when it is very 
much needed, especially by young and growing hogs. By having 
pasture at this season there is a great saving of grain, very little being 
needed. It also enables fall pigs farrowed in September to be carried 
through the winter in good condition, thrifty and well grown, so that 
by giving corn in the spring they can be sent to market by June 
nearly as cheaply as the March pig can be shipped by December. 
Quite frequently, where hogs have been grown on alfalfa or wheat 
_ pasture, they will, when put on a heavy feed of corn, make a gain of 
12 to 15 pounds for every bushel fed. 
OATS. 
In the same region where wheat is used for pasture, oats are also 
used for spring pasture and are highly spoken of by all who have 
used them. Some claim that hogs will do better on oats than on 
wheat. The hogs hke them better and will eat them as long as they 
grow, while they do not like wheat when it begins to head. In this 
locality many sow oats in March to furnish spring pasture for the 
hogs when they come off the wheat and before the alfalfa is ready to 
pasture. Sometimes oats are sown with rape at this time for the 
same purpose and to give variety to the pasture. Oats will furnish 
pasture at about the same rate as wheat. 
The great value of oats is due to the fact that they furnish suc- 
culent feed at a season when it is much needed, giving variety to the 
pasture. They are also greatly relished by hogs. Oats are particu- 
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