JOURNAL OP AGRlOEniRAL JtESEARCB 
Vol. XXI Washington, D. C., Junk i, 1921 No. 5 
EFFECT OF RATION ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF PIGS 
By C. O. Swanson 
Associate Chemist , Department of Chemistry, Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station 
I. CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF PIGS AS INFLUENCED BY THE CHAR¬ 
ACTER OF THE RATION 
In the year 1911 a series of experiments 1 was begun at the Kansas 
Agricultural Experiment Station to study the deficiencies of corn as an 
exclusive ration for young growing pigs. The material for this and the 
following sections has been selected from the mass of data obtained in 
these experiments. The influence of the character of the ration upon the 
development of pigs has been studied by a number of investigators. 3 
Forbes (3) noted that the specific effects of com alone are in general a 
retarded development of the protein and bony tissue and an overdevelop¬ 
ment of fatty tissue. In a later publication by the same author and asso¬ 
ciates ( 4) the statement is made that rations deficient in constituents 
needed for growth resulted in a restricted development. 
Sanborn (< 8 , 9, jo), one of the first investigators in this country to study 
the effect of com on the development of pigs, noted that pigs receiving 
com only were deficient in muscular development and were overfat. 
Pigs receiving a higher protein ration gained weight more rapidly and 
with a smaller amount of feed. 
Henry (5, />. 83) noted that the corn-fed hogs had an excessive develop¬ 
ment of fat but an inferior development of muscular tissue. 
Emmett and associates (2) fed three lots of four 51-pound pigs during 
a 174-day period a ration of ground com, blood meal, and calcium 
phosphate. Lot 1 was fed 0.32 pound of digestible protein per day 
per 100 pounds live weight; lot 2, 0.7 pound of digestible protein; lot 
3, 0.94 pound of digestible protein. The slaughter test made at the end 
of the experiment showed that pigs in lot 1 were not normally developed. 
The protein intake was on too low a plane. Pigs in lot 2 showed a 
normal development, and there was little difference between the pigs 
1 These experiments were originated by Dr. Henry Jackson Waters while he was president of the Kansas 
State Agricultural College and were prosecuted under his direction by the Departments of Animal Hus¬ 
bandry and Chemistry of the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station. 
3 No attempt is here made at a complete review of the literature on this subject Bibliographies relative 
to this subject are given in Bulletin 169 (iz) 3 , Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station. 
8 Reference is made by number (italic) to ‘‘literature cited,” p. 341. 
Journal of Agricultural Research, Vol. XXI, No. 5 
Washington, D. C. June 1,1921 
Key No. Kans.-24 
(279) 
