1909.] Suggestions for Pig-Feeders. 



725 



milk. At this stage the food requirement until the pig scales 

 160 lb. will probably average 4*5 lb. per 1 lb. increase (see 

 tables, pp. 723-4), or, for the 76 lb. increase, a final charge in 

 food of 342 lb. of meal or "meal equivalent." The total 

 food cost is, therefore, 529*81 lb. of meal (or "meal 

 equivalent") and 437*49 lb. of skim milk. Adding 

 one-fifth to the meal in order not to under-estimate 

 the cost, and taking the milk in round figures, we 

 may place the figures at 630 lb. of meal and 450 lb. of skim 

 milk. Assuming that the meal was composed, on the average, 

 of equal parts of middlings, maize meal and barley meal, the 

 cost for meal would be about £2, while at id. per gallon the 

 skim milk would be worth say 3s. gd., a total for food of 

 £2 35. gd. — 3'26d. per lb. live weight, or 4-d. per lb. dead 

 weight. If our 160 lb. pig be estimated as equal to a carcass 

 of 128 lb. (80 per cent, of the live weight), and valued at a 

 round sum of js. per 14 lb. stone, it would be worth £2 4 5 - 

 This leaves a gross return oi£i os. 3d., against which must 

 be placed the cost of marketing, rent and labour, probably 

 reducing the figure to 15s. as the net profit on a pig of 

 160 lb. live weight, while the return in manure is not included. 



It should here be pointed out that this estimate is only 

 approximate ; actual profits may be greater or less according 

 to the foods used, the care and skill of the feeder in managing 

 his stock, and the breed of pig. It is generally held that 5 lb. 

 of meal are required to produce 1 lb. of gain, but the 

 American and Danish figures quoted represent the results 

 of a large number of trials with many hundreds of pigs, and 

 they show conclusively that in the case of pigs under 160 lb. 

 in weight, 1 lb. of gain is obtained at a less cost than 5 lb. 

 of food, while if the animal is under 80 lb. much less food 

 is required for such a gain. As an all-round figure 5 lb. is 

 approximately correct, but in the marketing of smaller pigs 

 a much lower figure might be adopted, and this would 

 indicate a very fair profit at current prices. The financial 

 result will naturally vary with market prices. 



Feeding Stuffs for Pigs. — In order to arrive at an under- 

 standing as to what are the best rations for fattening pigs, it 

 will be useful to give some idea of the feeding materials 

 which are specially recommended in the United States and 



