443 
Questions About Pigs 
Answered By Prof. F. C. Minkler 
Lard or Bacon Hogs 
I have had some woi’k iu the swine herd 
and like this branch of farming. I had 
mostly Chester Whites and sold dressed to 
local markets. Of late I have become 
somewhat interested in Large English 
Yorkshires. You do not recommend this 
breed as doing as well as other foragers. 
This has become a great factor in pork 
production, and I am desirous of learning 
if this lack would be more detrimental 
than their marbled flesh would be bene¬ 
ficial where they could be cured for bacon. 
Are the Durocs any better foragers than 
Chesters, and which breed is more pro¬ 
lific? Are thci'e any index cards for rec¬ 
ord making, as there are for milk records? 
New York. c. r - 
The question of breed selection is usu- 
ally over-emphasized, and if you have a 
type of Large Yorkshires that have 
proved themselves good feeders and good 
foragers, I would not under any circum¬ 
stances prompt any discouragement. Dur¬ 
ing the 12 years that I was associated 
with the New Jersey Experiment Station 
I think the greatest gains that were ever 
made in any of our experiments were 
yielded by a litter of pigs sired by a Du- 
roc Jersey boar and out of a Large York¬ 
shire sow. Representatives of this breed 
make splendid mothers, they invariably 
yield large litters and usually display 
feeding qualities of merit. I think they 
do not reach maturity at a very early age, 
and as I suggested in my little book, they 
are not as industrious foragers as are rep¬ 
resentatives of the Duroc Jersey, Chester 
White or Poland China. As far as their 
marbled carcasses are concerned, I doubt 
very much if your butcher or your stock 
buyer would pay any more per pound for 
the Yorkshire than he would for the 
Chester White or a representative of any 
breed possessing the same weight and con¬ 
dition. It is all very nice to talk about 
the marbled carcass of the Berkshire, the 
Yorkshire and the Tamworth, but when 
it comes down to dollars and cents the 
average buyer in the country does not 
make any difference in the price, although 
admittedly it costs more to produce mar¬ 
bled meat than it does lard and fat. I 
doubt if there is any breed that would 
equal the Yorkshire or even Yorkshire 
crosses, using always the Yorkshire dam, 
in such operations, if you arc killing your 
pork and making a specialty of bacon, 
hams and kindred pork products. 
Whether or not there would be any dif¬ 
ference in the foraging ability of the Du¬ 
roc as compared with the Chester W hite, 
would depend largely upon the breeding 
strain or type of animal on feed. Either 
of the breeds possess good appetites and 
are vigorous and industrious feeders. If 
you will address a communication either 
to the secretary of the Berkshire Associa¬ 
tion at Springfield, Ill., or to the secretary 
of the National Duroc Jersey Registry 
Association, Union Stock A ards, Chicago, 
requesting blanks for herd registry rec¬ 
ords, or for cards suggesting a system of 
marking that would clearly identify the 
animals, I am sure you would obtain the 
desired information. 
and experience prompts the suggestion 
that much larger consumption of food re¬ 
sults when care is exercised in draining 
the pulp 
So far as the toxic properties are con¬ 
cerned, they are perhaps more imaginary 
than real, and surely no bad results 
would follow the use of this drained 
water. Without draining they would not 
contain as high a food value, and would 
fill rather than nourish the system. 
Therefore have no fear about the drained 
water that the lady of the house may 
use in her bread-making operations, for 
certainly it will not harm you in any 
way. Still, it will add nothing to your 
ration for pigs and would best be poured 
off. 
Feeding Shotes 
I have 14 shotes 20 weeks old, and 
would like information on mixing feeds. 
I wish to feed these shotes over the year; 
they range in weight from 125 to 135 
RURAL NEW-YORKER 
pounds. They are all hand-fed. Have 
corumeal, oats, bran, middlings and tank¬ 
age. I have to keep them penned up all 
the time. A. R. B. 
Pennsylvania. 
I doubt if it will pay you to carry the 
pigs along until they are much move 
than 250 pounds in weight. It would 
cost as much to put on the third hun¬ 
dred pounds as it has to put on the first 
two hundred, and with feed prices as 
high as they are, and with the further 
fact that it is necessary for you to keen 
your hogs closely confined, I would cer¬ 
tainly urge you to force them along to 
the suggested weight and dispose of 
them, and then put in some younger 
pigs to feed during the Summer months. 
If your pigs are 20 weeks old and weigh 
as much as 125 pounds apiece, they 
have done very w r ell indeed. I would 
give them all they would eat of the 
mixture compounded as follows: Corn- 
meal, 150 pounds; ground oats, 50 
pounds; digester tankage, 10 pounds. I 
would not feed any bran or middlings 
whatsoever, and would mix the above- 
named ingredients into a thick slop, ap¬ 
proaching the consistency of buttermilk, 
and give them all of thls> material that 
they will clean up twice daily. During 
March 8, 1919 
the middle of the day I would allow 
them free access to clover or Alfalfa hay 
and, if by any chance you have skim-milk 
or buttermilk, let them have all of this 
that they will consume after they have 
taken their grain chop. In addition to 
the grain ration, make sure that, they have 
free access to what we call a “mineral 
mixture,” a combination resulting from 
mixing together equal parts of salt, char¬ 
coal, ground limestone .and acid phos¬ 
phate, in equal proportions. If it is possi¬ 
ble for you to produce some forage crops 
and get a little area where the pigs can 
have more freedom of range, they will do 
better for you. and you can materially re¬ 
duce your grain ration. Rape is one of 
the best forage crops for swine. 
Feeding Calves Without Milk 
I notice several inquiries in regard to 
feeding young calves without the aid of 
milk. I have raised all of my calves for 
the past 10 years with good success by 
using rolled oats cooked to a porridge and 
mixed with a little milk at first; then in¬ 
crease the porridge and finally leave out 
the milk. I have had no trouble whatever 
from this feed. Half a pint of rolled oats 
to four quarts of water, well boiled, is 
about the right mixture, and feed it milk 
warm, j. s. a. 
Frankfort, N. Y, 
Effect of Water in Which Potatoes Are 
Boiled 
During one of the lectures on food 
staged for the benefit of the housewife 
this past year a statement was made that 
the water drained from boiled potatoes 
should not be used for bread baking. In 
a recent article of a late issue of Tiie 
R. N.-Y. on the feeding of pigs I noted 
the same remark, to the effect that the 
water drained from boiled potatoes, owing 
to some “toxic property,” was not good 
for pigs. The “missus” for several years 
past has always used the drainings from 
the potatoes iu the bread she made, and 
a* far as we know with no apparent 
after effects. Is there any truth iu this 
statement? MCK * 
Washington. 
In feeding live stock, particularly pigs, 
it is very important that every possible 
care he exercised toward making the mix¬ 
ture palatable in order that the pigs will 
eat generously of the food supply, so as 
to gain regularly and rapidly. Potatoes 
contain as much as 78 per cent of water, 
and the object of cooking or boiling them 
is to reduce their water content, and thus 
make them more concentrated. If the 
potato water were not drained very little 
would be gained from cooking the tubers, 
Y OU want eggs to sell at these war-time prices, and 
you want to do your full part toward increasing 
the world’s food supply. 
Speed up the laying. Get your hens in finest laying 
trim by feeding Dr. Hess Poultry Pan-a-ce-a. It helps 
to make poultry healthy—to make hens lay—to make 
chicks grow. 
Mating time is here. Now’s the time to put your 
hens and roosters in the pink of condition. If you 
want chicks that will live and develop rapidly, if you 
want early broilers, if you want pullets that will develop 
into early winter layers, then feed the parent stock 
Dr. Hess Poultry Pan-a-ce-a. 
Remember, it’s the singing, scratching, industrious hen that 
lays the healthy, fertile eggs that will hatch into strong, livable 
chicks. Feed Pan-a-ce-a for results. Buy according to the size 
of your flock—a penny’s worth for every hen to start with. A 
good rule for feeding is a tablespoonful once a day for every 
20 to 25 hens. 
The dealer from whom you buy Pan-a-ce-a will return every 
cent you pay him if it does not do what is claimed. 30c, 75c 
and $1.50 packages. 25-lb. pail, $3.00; 100-lb. drum, $10.00. 
Except in the far West and Canada. 
Dr. HESS & CLARK, Ashland, Ohio 
A Worm Expeller 
DR. HESS 
POULTRY 
PANACEA 
