Vol. LXVII, No. 3060 
WEEKLY, $1.00 PER YEAR. 
CHEAPEST CORN HARVESTER. 
Corn Fields That Are Hogged Off. 
Some years ago in southern Ohio we 
saw a drove of hogs in a cornfield. The 
corn was at that time about ready to cut. 
ihe hogs would throw their weight upon 
a stalk, break it off or bend it down, and 
then eat the ear. They seemed to eat 
a part of the stalk also, and to leave 
the corn now and then to eat grass or 
weeds. We thought these hogs had 
broken into the corn and were ruining 
it, but we were told that they were 
turned in on purpose to harvest it in the 
easiest and cheapest way. 
I hat was called “hogging down” corn. 
It struck us at the time as about the 
laziest and most shiftless plan ever seen, 
but it turns out to be based on economy 
and common sense. The Minnesota Ex¬ 
periment Station, in Bulletin 104, dis¬ 
cusses this “hogging down,” and has 
conducted definite experiments to test 
its value. The pictures shown here arc 
taken from the bulletin. It appears from 
the figures that this “hogging off” can 
be practiced with good profit on many 
Minnesota farms. The chief gain is in 
labor, and this is the most important 
item in localities where hired help is 
scarce. The hogs do all the work of 
husking and harvesting. Previous ex¬ 
periments in Rice Co., Minn., showed 
that the cost of producing one acre of 
standing corn was $11.77. Of this $3.51 
was for husking. This means breaking 
the ears from the standing corn and 
throwing them into a wagon—leaving 
the stalks in the field. Figuring the cost 
of hog fencing at from $1.50 to $2.50 
per acre, this means a saving of $1 to 
$2 per acre in harvesting. As for the 
value of the fodder, the figures show 
that it cost $2.97 to cut and shred the 
fodder on one acre of this corn. As 
there was an average of 1*4 ton of dried 
cornstalks to the acre this means $2.37 
per ton to save the stalks for feed. As 
compared with Timothy hay at $6 per 
ton in Minnesota, the value of a ton of 
the stalks is figured at $2.84. From 
these figures we get an idea of the value 
of this “hogging off” plan, on large 
western farms where labor is scarce. 
The picture at Fig. 338 shows how a 
cornfield looks when the hogs are turned 
into it. Seed of Dwarf Essex rape is 
seeded in the corn at the last cultiva¬ 
tion—just as many of us use Crimson 
clover and turnips. The cost of this 
rape seed is rarely over 25 cents an 
acre, but it makes a heavy growth and 
is relished by the hogs. 
The experiment at the Minnesota Sta¬ 
tion was conducted in three three-acre 
fields which were in a rotation of corn, 
barley and mangels. The corn on one 
field (8 by 60 rods) was planted in 
checks and cultivated four or five times. 
Three pounds of rape seed were sown 
from July 15 to July 20. Under ordin¬ 
ary conditions the hogs are turned in 
about September 1, but in this experi¬ 
ment feeding did not begin uatil Sep- 
NEVV YORK, SEPTEMBER 19, 1908. 
HOW RAPE GROWS IX THE CORN. Fir,. 338. 
HOW THE HOGS WORK DOWN THE CORN. Fig. 339. 
A CORNFIELD AFTER “HOGGING DOWN.” Fig. 340. 
tember 19. A drove of 39 Spring pigs, 
grade Berkshires, were divided into two 
lots—26 being turned into the corn and 
13 put in a feeding yard with all feed 
carried to them. In addition to the 
corn one pound of shorts to each 100 
pounds of hog was fed, usually in the 
form of a slop. Salt was kept before 
all the hogs and also plenty of fresh 
water. While the rape in the cornfield 
was green the hogs in the cornfield 
showed little desire for the shorts. For 
a fence a strip of woven wire of seven 
strands and 26 inches wide was put 
around the field. The corner posts were 
well set and braced—the line posts were 
two rods apart. The hogs might have 
broken down this fence, but as there 
was plenty of feed inside they did not 
try to do so. The hogs had only one 
acre at a time to work over—portable 
fences being used to separate them. The 
hogs did considerable shallow rooting— 
hunting for insects. All through the ex¬ 
periment these field hogs were sleeker 
and heartier than the others. No 
shelter was given either lot. Thus we 
can see that after growing the corn and 
rape the hogs were just turned in to eat 
the crops off. No work was required 
except to keep the hogs supplied with 
salt, water and a little shorts. 
In 1905 the field hogs made an aver¬ 
age gain of 65 pounds from October 11 
to November 29, while the yarded hogs 
gained 49 pounds each in the same time. 
The average gain per day was 1.3 pound 
for the field hogs and .98 for the yard 
lot. In 1906 much smaller hogs were 
put in the field. Between September 19 
and November 9 the field hogs made an 
average gain of 75 pounds each and the 
yarded hogs gained 58 pounds. In this 
case the average daily gain was 1.44 
pound for the field hogs and 1.11 pound 
for the yarded stock. If we figure it an¬ 
other way the 26 hogs which ran in the 
field gained 1950 pounds on the three 
acres of corn and rape. In 1905 the 
hogs from the field lot brought $5.40 per 
100 pounds. On this basis the 26 hogs gave 
$105.30 for the use of the three acres. 
They did better than this, because they 
probably did not cost as much per pound 
as they sold for. If the figures as to 
cost of producing an acre of corn in 
Minnesota are fair, up to the time of 
husking an acre represents a value of 
$8.26, so that the hogs turned in a profit 
of $26.84 per acre. And this is not based 
oil a small experiment alone. The bul¬ 
letin contains letters from practical 
farmers who have tried the plan. The 
following note from Paul Sherman, of 
Brown Co., Minn., is a sample of what 
they say: 
Before cultivating the com the last time 
I sowed four pounds of rape in an acre of 
corn that was not a good stand. The rape 
grew quite well, and this field was fenced 
and 21 Spring pigs turned in after the corn 
was nicely dented. Before turning them in 
I weighed four of the average sized ones. 
Their weights were a# follows: No. 1, 133; 
No. 2, 126; No. 3. 102: No. 4, 99. There 
were 35 bushels of corn in the field and 
they were confined to this field entirely with 
plenty of water all the time. They cleaned 
