474 



Agricultural Chemistry, — Pig Feeding. 



with still Indian corn as the ad libitum food. In this pen we 

 have a very good total increase ; but there is a great difference 

 between the different pigs in this respect. No. 3 gives not only 

 the highest total increase of any pig of the whole Series of 36, 

 amounting to rather more than 2^ lbs. per day, but his gain is 

 exceedingly constant throughout the whole experiment. No. 2, 

 on the other hand, gives a pretty uniform rate of increase, but a 

 total amount considerably less than half that of No. 3, and very 

 much less than No. 1. The pig No. 2 was, however, from the 

 beginning, very much molested by the thriving No. 3, and 

 indeed, for a time, frequently jumped out of his pen to avoid the 

 ferocious attacks of his greedy neighbour. There is little doubt 

 that he was prevented taking as much food as he would otherwise 

 have done ; and his deficient increase can scarcely be wondered 

 at. No. 1 pig was also at first much molested ; indeed, he lost 

 the greater part of his tail in one engagement ; his increase, there- 

 fore, was comparatively small at the commencement, but after- 

 wards it was much better, averaging upon the whole rather more 

 than If lbs. per day. Eventually this pig was the fattest among 

 the whole 36 ; and this full ripeness is doubtless the reason of 

 the gradually declining rate of increase during the last three 

 periods of the experiment. Upon the whole, this diet of a small 

 allowance of Bran and a liberal supply of Indian corn, may be 

 pronounced a very good food, and to have yielded well. The 

 limited quantity of Bran served somewhat to increase the supply 

 of nitrogenous and mineral matters, and the large allowance of 

 Indian corn provided a liberal amount, especially of fatty matter, 

 and of the other important non-nitrogenous constituents of food. 



In Pen 8 two lbs. of the Bean and Lentil mixture and 2 lbs. of 

 Bran per pig per day was the fixed allowance ; and Indian meal the 

 complementary or ad libitum food. In this diet there would be a 

 more liberal allowance of nitrogen than in either pens 5, 6, or 7, 

 whilst there would be at the same time, enough of the Indian corn 

 meal to provide a liberal supply of the important non-nitrogenous 

 constituents. Every pig in this pen gave a good, and, upon the 

 whole, a pretty regular increase, though they differed somewhat 

 from one another in this respect ; and they all grew considerably 

 as well as fattened. No. 1 on this diet gives the highest increase 

 in the entire Series of Pigs with one exception ; and his daily gain 

 in weight seemed to be on an average more than 2i lbs., with 

 something like a gradually declining rate of increase from the 

 comm.encement to the end of the experiment. No. 2 was not so 

 fat as either of the others ; and his increase, though still a fair 

 one, was only about two-thirds that of No. 1. No. 3 increased 

 nearly 2 lbs. per day, but less as he progressed, and, though well 

 fatted, was by no means so fat as many others. The average 



