726 



Suggestions for Pig-Feeders. [dec, 



Canada, i.e., those which have been found to give the best 

 returns per 100 lb. of meal or meal equivalent consumed by 

 the pigs, and to discuss the relative effectiveness of the 

 various feeding-stuffs. 



Wheat. — Experiments in the United States have shown 

 that while wheat is superior to maize, except as a finishing 

 food, it is usually much more expensive than the latter, and, 

 except in years of very low prices, is not much used. In Great 

 Britain the disparity in prices is not so pronounced, but the 

 late high price of wheat has precluded its use for pigs. Where 

 employed it has been found useful to feed it with barley in 

 the proportion of 2 lb. of wheat to 1 lb. of barley, giving also 

 clover, lucerne or other green fodder. Weight for weight 

 wheat is about equal to maize as a pig feed, but it produces 

 more lean than maize. At the Oregon Experiment Station* 

 it was concluded that a bushel of wheat properly fed to 

 reasonably well-fed pigs should produce about 13*5 lb. of live 

 pork. 



Middlings. — This food-stuff is held to be of great value for 

 pig fattening, and experiment showed it to be superior to 

 maize, if fed alone, but a combination of maize and middlings 

 gave 20 per cent, better results than middlings alone. For 

 young pigs two parts by weight of middlings to one part of 

 maize is recommended. 



Bran. — Experiments at the Maine Agricultural Experiment 

 Station (1889) showed that bran had but one-half the value 

 of middlings. This food, also, can only be used in small 

 quantities on account of its bulk. Its price is much above 

 half that of middlings, and this clearly prohibits its use com- 

 pared with middlings ; it may, however, usefully be employed 

 in small quantity. 



Oats. — Most satisfactory results are obtained when the oats 

 are crushed or ground. When ground and used in conjunc- 

 tion with maize they give excellent results, and one part of 

 ground oats should be mixed with two, parts by weight of 

 maize meal. Henry's experiments showed that when oats 

 were used in this way the feed requirements per 100 lb. gain 

 were very low. 



Barley Meal.— The value of barley meal for pig-feeding 



* U.S. Dept. of Agric, Expt. Stat. Record, 1904-5, p. 85. 



