34 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Tan 18 
Ah well! It’s little use to cry because the milk Is 
spilt; 
It’s little use to swing the swortl with naught left but 
the hilt. 
I’ve done my duty while I could, and now, if needs 
must be, 
What I have done for others’ sake, let others do for me. 
It is the rule of life, I know - an honest turn-about, 
We help our babies into life, and then —they help us 
out. 
Their turn must come, too, soon enough ; like rolling 
wave on wave, 
The generations pour their tide into the common 
grave. 
One day a babe, the next a man, the next—unnamed, 
unknown, 
Save for a moss-encrusted line upon a moldering 
stone. 
Our lives are swifter than a tale upon a fluttering 
page- 
Wehave just time to learn the play, and then—pass 
off the stage. 
<T!)c SinincljcvtX 
OATS FOR PIGS. 
Veteran Pig-Breeders Talk. 
NOT ALL CORN. 
Oats Largely Fed in the West, 
Oats are cheap this year. With a view 
to showing farmers the merits of this grain 
for other animals than horses, the R. N.-Y. 
requested some of the leading pig-breeders 
of the West to state their experience with 
oats for hogs. Some of the replies follow: 
FROM H. H. GENTRY. 
I feed ground oats the year ’round, mixed 
in slops with shipstuff or middlings, and in 
cold weather I grind corn with the oats 
in equal parts and then mix in the ship- 
stuff. In such weather I steam the slops, 
but in warm weather I do not. Corn, as we 
all know, produces too much fat at the ex¬ 
pense of bone and muscle. Shipstuff or 
middlings is a great flesh-forming food, 
but when fed alone I think it produces too 
much flabbiness along with a lack of firm - 
ness of flesh and strength of bone and 
muscle. I have fed ground oats for years 
and I think no other food equal to them in 
correcting the inequalities in a diet of corn 
or shipstuff or of both. At times I vary the 
proportions of the three kinds of feed men¬ 
tioned above according to the scarcity or 
abundance of either, but I feed some of 
them at all times except that in warm 
weather I frequently feed no corn for a time 
to such animals as I think do not need it. 
For this reason I feed some dry corn in 
winter and soaked corn in summer in ad¬ 
dition to slops. If all the feeds were mixed 
into one slop, then all the animals would 
have to be fed alike except as regards 
quantity. I believe in feeding young and 
growing animals all they can properly di¬ 
gest at all times, but the kind of feed 
should vary with the condition of the ani¬ 
mal and its natural tendencies to fatten or 
grow. Much should depend also on whether 
the animal is to be fully matured and kept 
for a breeder or killed for pork, and, if the 
latter, upon the age at which it is to be 
butchered. It is an old-fogy notion that 
when a young animal is too fat it must be 
starved to make it all right. On the other 
hand, it should be fed liberally of such 
food as will produce bone or muscle, and 
get little or no feed that will produce fat. 
It is also an old-fogy notion yet held to by 
many who should know better, that in 
order to produce lean meat and muscle ani¬ 
mals should he fed sparingly and kept for 
a long time in thin flesh. Of course a cer¬ 
tain amount of exercise is necessary for 
the health of any animal; but exercise 
cannot make flesh or muscle without food. 
Lean meat and muscle as well as fat are 
produced by the food that goes in at the ani¬ 
mal’s mouth; then if the former are desired, 
why feed sparingly of the foods that produce 
them any more than we should feed spar¬ 
ingly of the foods that produce fat if it is 
fat we wish, 
Sedalia, Mo. 
FROM W. A. MAZE. 
There is no better feed for hogs than oats 
if properly prepared; but oats alone are 
not a profitable feed. I have fed oats in the 
sheaf, which is the least satisfactory way. 
Thrashed oats, dry or soaked in water, make 
a fairly good feed to make young hogs grow; 
but I obtain the best results from feeding 
oats to hogs in the following way : grind 
together one-half oats and one-fourth corn 
in weight, and add one-quarter of wheat- 
bran or middlings. If rye can be obtained 
I would as willingly use it as corn. When 
preparing my hogs for the show I usually 
feed them the above mixture in this propor¬ 
tion : Two bushels of corn, four bushels of 
oats ground together, to 100 pounds of mid¬ 
dlings, all well mixed and wet just so that 
it will not run, with clover or vegetables, 
according to the season. Rest assured that 
ground oats make an excellent food and 
one need not be afraid of getting too large 
a percentage of them for growing hogs; but 
for fattening I would give more corn-meal 
and middlings. 
Sharpsville, Ind. 
FROM JOHN GILMORE. 
My principal feed is corn, yet I feed a 
great deal of oats. For breeding stock I 
know of nothing better than oats or bran 
slop, and when I fatten my own meat the 
principal feed is oats. When the pigs are 
young I soak the oats for 12 hours before 
feeding them, and I also soak the oats for 
brood sows when they are suckling. I do 
not confine stock at any time entirely to oats, 
as I always feed’small quantities of corn on 
the ear. When pigs are small I do not 
feed bran, but use shorts for slop with oats 
and a little shelled corn, but as they grow 
up I feed bran slops, soaked oats and a little 
raw corn. In winter I have no small pigs, 
and then I feed oats dry, with bran for slop 
and a little dry corn on the ear. I know of 
nothing better for growing stock than oats, 
and nothing better for fattening than corn, 
always keeping plenty of coal ashes, lime 
and salt where the hogs can get them. 
Vinton, Iowa. 
FROM S. E. SHELLENBERGER. 
I have obtained very good results from 
feeding oats to my pure-bred swine. I have 
observed that oats are one of the best bone 
and muscle-producing feeds that can be 
found, which is a point of great impor¬ 
tance in raising thoroughbred swine, and I 
regard this grain as a great conditioner and 
regulator in feeding hogs, which is another 
very important point. In feeding oats as 
ground feed I use about one-third of oats 
to one-fourth of corn and then add about 
one-fourth of bran, and I frequently feed 
this mixture, using it nearly all the time 
as a regulator, and saving corn. After 
May 1, I commence soaking corn and then 
I soak oats with it, using a mixture com¬ 
posed of one-third oats to two-thirds corn 
soaked for 12 hours. I feed each mess clean 
so as to feed it always sweet, and the same 
is the case with slop. I feed everything in 
the way of slop sweet and mix just as I 
feed. Oats are not a great fattener; but 
i hey have the power of producing the best 
results when fed with food of more fatten¬ 
ing qualities. I have often kept breeding 
stock on oats alone in fine condition for the 
breeding season. 
Camden, Ohio. 
FROM JOHN M. STONEBRAKER. 
I have fed oats in large quantities. In¬ 
deed I always feed my young stock of grow¬ 
ing pigs and sows on oats and rye ground 
together, some dry, but mostly scald¬ 
ed by putting the meal into boiling 
water and letting it stand over-night, when 
it is ready to feed. I very often feed un¬ 
ground oats alone in troughs where the 
pigs cannot waste the feed or make it un¬ 
clean. I feed most of the oats in this way, 
especially to my sows carrying pigs before 
farrowing time. I often have oats and 
shelled corn ground together, and this mix¬ 
ture with an addition of shorts or mill- 
stuff and oil-meal makes a palatable and 
good diet for pigs and growing hogs as well 
as for sows. In preparing hogs for mar¬ 
ket, however, sound corn and water make 
the best diet for putting on fat: while salt, 
ashes, fine shorts for bulk, together with 
some oil-cake meal and and a little copper¬ 
as and sulphur, resin and saltpeter all 
mixed together, make a good appetizer and 
worm-destroyer if placed where the hogs • 
can lick it at will in a self-feeding box. 
They will never take any more than their 
systems require. 
Panola, Ill. 
FROM H. T. FRENCH. 
Fattening hogs on oats seems like an ex¬ 
travagant method of producing pork, espec¬ 
ially to those who have been accustomed 
to feeding corn exclusively. It is no un¬ 
common thing in this State to see hogs fed 
upon an exclusive diet of oats for months 
during the fattening period. One of my 
neighbors killed as fine a lot of hogs fat¬ 
tened in this way as I ever saw fattened on 
corn. It was my privilege to see most of 
them cut up and to sample the meat from 
one-half of one of them, as I purchased it for 
my own use. The proportion of lean meat 
to fat was very large and the meat was very 
juicy. The portions of lean meat usually 
dry, such as the tenderloin, were very juicy. 
I could not discover that the meat differed 
materially in flavor from corn-fed meat. 
The animals were where they could be in¬ 
spected from August 1, to December 1, 
when they were killed. They were not 
weighed to note the gain, but from obser¬ 
vations during this time, I am convinced 
that they made very good gains compared 
with those made from a diet of corn, such 
as the Western farmer uses. No corn is 
raised in this section. All hogs are fattened 
on oats and wheat, largely the former. 
Corvallis, Oregon. 
FROM A. S. GILMOUIi. 
I have often fed oats to hogs. I first fed 
them in a mixture of corn and oats, half 
and half, ground together. This plan I 
found to be too expensive, as the legal toll 
here was one sixth of the grain, which often 
proved to be one-fourth. I generally poured 
boiling water over this mixture and let it 
stand for about 12 hours before feeding. 
Sometimes I mixed with cold water. After¬ 
ward I scalded oats and let them stand 12 
hours and .after they had cooled, mixed 
them with middlings, bran aud corn-meal, 
using one-half oats in the mixture. This I 
found to be the cheapest way of feeding 
them. I feed a great deal of mill-feed. I 
have always thought oats too expensive 
to feed to hogs while they are being pre¬ 
pared for the block, as it takes three bush¬ 
els of oats to produce as much fat as one 
bushel of corn. I have been raising fine 
hogs for breeding purposes almost exclus¬ 
ively for the last 36 years, and I have found 
oats to be a great bone and muscle-former. 
With a diet of which oats are a part 1 could 
raise hogs possessing a better constitution 
than that of hogs raised on any other diet. 
Greensburg, Ind. 
FROM HENRY M. MORSE. 
I have fed unground oats to hogs ; but I 
do not at all think it is a good way to feed 
them. I have also fed them ground with 
corn, equal parts, also two-thirds oats and 
one-third corn. I have also fed rye and 
oats ground equal parts, and corn, rye and 
oats. Oats ground with other grains are 
fine feed for brood sows and pigs or shoats 
that one wants to grow well, but I do not 
think them worth much for putting fat on 
hogs. If oats are fed heavily to hogs, they 
have to eat too much hulls. I feed fine 
middlings to a considerable extent to my 
pigs and brood sows, and sometimes give 
some bran to the sows. I also feed rye and 
oats ground together, and think rye good 
feed for hogs, but when I wish to put on 
fat I give them corn. 
Union City, Mich. 
FROM II. UNDERWOOD. 
I have fed oats to hogs and am doing so 
now every day and shall continue to do so 
as long as I feed hogs, especially breeding 
stock. I consider oats good feed if not the 
best that can be given to young, growing 
pigs to insure a healthy, strong growth. 
They are also excellent for brood sows dur¬ 
ing the period of gestation. I believe oats 
to be the best muscle-producing food and 
thus the strongest food. We see the re¬ 
sults of oat-feeding in the horse, as oats 
are the principal feed he gets, and what ani¬ 
mal equals the horse for endurance ? My 
plan of feeding oats to hogs is to feed them 
dry and whole as I would to a horse with 
this difference : While I give them to a 
horse in a box, I give them to the pigs scat¬ 
tered either on the ground or the floor of 
the pen, so that the animals cannot pick up 
too many at once. In this way I guard 
against choking, as pigs are apt to eat 
rather greedily. If the oats are put into 
the trough in large quantities, the pigs are 
very apt to choke themselves, causing an 
amount of trouble not offset by the good 
obtained. Sometimes I mix oats with bar¬ 
ley—two-thirds oats to one-third barley— 
and feed as above. By feeding whole grain 
I save the expense of grinding. A good 
feed for young, growing pigs is one-third 
oats, one-third bran or middlings, and one- 
third corn. In this mixture it would be 
advisable to have the oats and corn ground; 
or, again, feed the whole dry oats in the 
morning, the bran or middlings at noon as 
a mash—if in winter have it warm—then 
the corn in the evening. As I am engaged 
chiefly in raising breeding-stock, I find 
oats the very best food I can use. My pigs 
do not become excessively fat and do not 
get the thumps or cholera. 
Beaver Dam, Wis. 
FROM R. .1. MClvEIGHAN. 
I have fed oats to hogs in different ways, 
such as whole oats, oats ground to a fine 
meal and oats mixed with rye and ground, 
never depending on them exclusively as 
feed, but using them to make a variety. 
When used in this way I think they are one 
of the best foods we have for young stock. 
They are good, however, fed in any form, 
but I think that two-thirds oats and one- 
third rye mixed and ground together make 
a food that will give better results than 
corn exclusively for breeding stock. I have 
also fed oat meal dry. I have seen pigs 
leave corn to eat this where they had a 
chance at both at the same time. I have 
also fed this meal wet with water; it is 
eaten much more rapidly in this form than 
when dry. I prefer to feed it dry and give 
the pigs access to plenty of water close by 
the feed trough. If I had all the sweet 
milk that I wanted, with oats and rye meal, 
I think I could make a growth on a 10- 
weeks-old pig that could not be equaled by 
the use of any other food. 
Yates City, Ill. 
FROM C. G. SPARKS. 
I have fed oats to hogs with good results. 
I find they are an excellent food for mak¬ 
ing bone and muscle and a good growth. 
I prefer feeding them ground and mixed 
with millfeed called shipstuff—one-third 
oats, two thirds shipstuff mixed with suf¬ 
ficient water to make a thick slop. Thi i 
gives plenty of fattening material; but 
should a person want to get his hogs very 
fat, he should feed some corn also. I think 
a mixture of oats and shipstuff more 
healthful than corn for hogs, as it is not so 
heating. Corn is more liable to make hogs 
diseased than any other food, and, as a 
general thing, their lives are much shorter 
when they are fed so much corn and no 
other food mixed with it. Oats can also be 
fed without grinding by putting them in a 
tub or barrel and soaking them for 24 
hours before feeding. Oil-cake is an ex¬ 
cellent food for hogs mixed in their slop— 
about a quarter of a pint to each hog once 
a day or once every other day. It puts their 
hair in fine condition, making it smooth 
and glossy, aud also keeps their bowels in 
fine order. Hogs should be greased every 
two weeks with coal oil mixed with a small 
part of grease to kill the lice, as these pests 
are very likely to make them diseased if 
not killed, and a hog cannot thrive \vhen 
yerylousy. 
Mount Leonard, Mo. 
Rotes' from the ilural (Grounds. 
WHAT DEPTH? 
RESULTS of the THIRD SEASONS' TRIALS 
FROM TWO TO TEN INCHES. 
How Deep shall we Plant Potatoes 
For the third season the R. N.-Y. has 
been engaged in throwing some light upon 
this interesting problem. The answers 
thus far indicate that the deeper trenches 
yield more in dry seasons and less in wet. 
But what depth will prove the most prof¬ 
itable in the average season ? That is a 
problem that only repeated experiments 
can solve. 
Three to four-eye pieces of the Rural 
Blush (as in preceding years) were planted 
April 22, in trenches from two to 10 inches 
deep, in a soil that, in so far as is known to 
us, has never received any manure of any 
kind, and fertilizer only during the three 
years of these experiments. All of the 
trenches, after the seed-pieces had been 
planted, were filled to within one inch of 
the surface. Mapes’ potato fertilizer was 
then sown on this soil (within the trenches 
