THE HOG INDUS] KV. 
141 
The most economical ration is seen to be one in which the propor- 
tion of grain to skim milk was as 1 to •'!. Beyond a certain point, it 
was fonnd to be expensive to give the pigs a Large amount of skim 
milk. However, all the lots receiving the dairy ration made good 
gains; the only one of the two years' tests which made an extremely 
poor showing was that on corn meal alone. 
Shim milk compared with nitrogenous concentrates. — In order to 
compare the value of skim milk as a balance with that of a mixture 
of gluten and linseed meals Patterson a fed two lots of pigs of each 
at the Maryland Station. Lot I received a ration as follows: Hominy 
chop, 300 pounds; ground corn fodder (new corn product), 100 pounds; 
skim milk, 2,100 pounds. Lot II received : Hominy chop, 300 pounds; 
ground corn fodder, 100 pounds; King gluten meal, 100 pounds; and 
linseed meal, 200 pounds. The grain was fed as a slop. Results were 
as follows : 
Skim milk compared with nitrogenous concentrates. 
Average 
weight 
at begin- 
ning. 
Average 
gain. 
Num- 
ber of 
days 
fed. 
Average 
daily 
gain. 
Feed eaten per 100 
pounds gain. 
Nutri- 
Ration. 
Grain 
and 
fodder. 
Milk. 
tive 
ratio. 
Grain, fodder , and milk 
Pounds. 
66 
57 
Pounds. 
187 
136 
121 
121 
Pounds. 
1.54 
1.12 
Pounds. 
300 
407 
Pounds. 
1,272 
1:3.52 
1 : 3. 61 
This experiment seems to bear out the contention that skim milk 
has more value as a feed than is indicated by the digestible nutrients 
it contains. The use of milk effected a saving of practically 25 per 
cent of grain in the feed required for 100 pounds of gain. The rations 
fed were identical in nutritive ratio, and they were made up of the 
same feeds, except that one was balanced with skim milk and the 
other with gluten and linseed meals. 
The great difference between the 
feeding values of the two rations must be ascribed to the effect of skim 
milk on the digestive system, and it would seem that a ration may be 
balanced in other ways than by the addition of certain proportions 
of nutrients with certain fuel values — a "balanced ration" being 
regarded as the one that gives the best results when fed for a certain 
purpose. 
A comparison of skim milk and green clover in a pig's ration. — At 
the Maryland Station, Patterson, a fed Uvo lots of Duroc Jersey and 
Berkshire grades of 6 pigs each on rations, one of which was balanced 
with skim milk and the other included cut green clover instead of 
milk. The grain was corn-and-cob meal, 8 parts, and 1 part each, of 
gluten meal and linseed meal. The clover was given only in such 
« Bui. No. 63. 
