23 
Strict interpretation of the data suggests that the hogs considered 
in the summary did not harden so rapidly as would be expected 
under usual conditions. This applies in particular to the hogs 
which gained relatively slowly on the softening ration. As a conse- 
quence of their slower rate of gain they made less total gain on the 
softening feed, yet a greater proportional gain on the hardening 
ration was required to reach any certain degree of firmness than 
with the other hogs. No definite reason, however, can be ascribed 
for the somewhat abnormal behavior. Regardless of such behavior^ 
however, the statement above is regarded as conservative and de- 
pendable, with a margin of safety of practically 100 per cent allowed. 
In other words, referring again to the figures in Table 7, it is seen 
that the gain on corn with tankage was more than double the gain 
on the softening ration; yet the carcasses averaged medium soft in 
grading. Figure 8 also shows that a gain ratio of 1 : 2 (softening 
gain in relation to hardening gain) did not produce hard or medium- 
hard hogs. 
RESULTS FROM HEAVIER PIGS 
The average initial weight of the 43 heavier hogs as shown in 
Table 8 was approximately 30 pounds more than that of the 31 hogs 
just discussed. It is calculated from the figures for gains and days 
on feed that the average daily gain during the softening period was 
1.39 pounds and during the hardening period 1.81 pounds. The 
shrinkage of 17.37 pounds from final weight to slaughter weight 
seems excessive, but is largely accounted for by the fact that a ma- 
jority of the 43 hogs were subjected to a long shipment by express 
and were "empty," to a considerable extent, when weighed just 
prior to slaughter. The range in gains on the softening ration was 
from 38 pounds to 94 pounds, with an average of 67.63 pounds. The 
subsequent gains on the corn-tankage ration varied from 34 pounds 
to 162 pounds, the average gain being 94.09 pounds. Thus, with a 
ratio of 1 to 1.4 for the average gain on the softening as compared 
with that on the hardening ration a carcass grading of medium hard 
and refractive index of the back fat of 1.4600 were obtained. 
As with the lighter pigs, the results obtained are shown graphi- 
cally in Figure 9 as well as in Table 8. 
Table 8. — Average weights, gains, days on feed, gradings, and refractive indexes 
of oacfc and leaf fats for J^S hogs fed corn with tankage following soy oeans 
supplemented with a medium ration of shelled corn 
[Initial weights, of hogs on soy beans with corn, 115 pounds and over] 
Initial 
weight 
Gain 
Days on feed 
Final 
weight 
Slaugh- 
ter 
weight 
Grading (aver- 
age and distri- 
bution) 1 
Refractive index 
Number 
of hogs 
Soy 
beans 
with 
corn 
Corn 
with 
tank- 
age 
Soy 
beans 
with 
corn 
Corn 
with 
tank- 
age 
Back 
fat 
Leaf 
fat 
43.... 
Pounds 
128. 35 
Pounds 
67.63 
Pounds 
94.09 
48.51 
52 
Pounds 
290. 07 
Pounds 
272.7 
fl7H 
MTT ll8MH..__ 
MH 15MS 
13 S 
[■1. 4600 
1. 4594 
* The initial letters in this column=S, soft; MS, medium soft; MH, medium hard; H, hard. 
71373°— 28 4 
