290 
The RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
February 19, 1921 
Questions About Hogs 
Answered by Prof. F. C. Minkler 
The Spotted Poland China Kog 
Is the Spotted Poland China hog as 
good a« the Duroc-Jersey for New York 
conditions? What is the outlook for the 
producer of pork in the future? w. J.T. 
Hamlin. N. Y. 
The Spotted Poland China breed of 
hogs is not raised as extensively in New 
York State as the Duroc Jersey. Indiana 
holds first place as regards the native 
heath of the Spotted Poland China, and 
while the breed lias had its followers for 
a number of years, its distribution is 
nowhere near as general as that of the 
Duroc Jersey. The question of breed selec¬ 
tion is primarily one for the individual to 
solve himself. There are good and bad 
representatives in each breed, and it is 
far more important to insist upon the se¬ 
lection of a utility individual within any 
given breed. At one time the Poland 
China breed predominated in the corn 
belt. They evidenced early maturing 
qualities, made rapid gains and yielded a 
carcass that was readily salable. I ndue 
importance was placed on early matur¬ 
ing qualities, and objectionable features 
developed, such as small litters, intensi¬ 
fied refinement and a lack of size and 
substance. As a result of this condition, 
which was quite general throughout the 
breeding districts of Ohio. Illinois and In¬ 
diana, many farmers changed breeds, 
turning to the Chester White. Duroc Jer¬ 
sey. Berkshire or Hampshire. It i« 
claimed by breeders of the Spotted Poland 
China breed that they did not experience 
this unpopular cycle, and that their favor¬ 
ite breed of swine is gaining in popular¬ 
ity. If we are to judge the popularity 
of the breed by the extent to which it 
is produced and finished for market pur¬ 
poses. then the Duroc Jersey would easily 
claim the distinction of being the most 
popular feeders’ type, for there are more 
red hogs coming into the various markets, 
particularly from the corn belt, than of 
any other breed or type. 
Concerning your second question as to 
the general outlook for the pork produc¬ 
ers. it is my belief it is good business to 
stay in the pig business. Surely one can 
well afford to feed 50' or 00-cent corn to 
nine or 10-ceut hogs, and this is the con¬ 
dition that prevails at the present mo¬ 
ment. With freight rates at their present 
level, the livestock farmer has a distinct 
advantage over the grain farmer. In 
fact, conditions are developing in the 
West which suggest that even the districts 
that have been so famous in their pro¬ 
duction of Alfalfa hay may have to intro¬ 
duce livestock farming, in order to find 
some means of marketing their crops to 
greater advantage. The prevailing rates 
on, for example, Alfalfa meal, make it 
absolutely prohibitive for the Western 
grower or distributor to operate hits mills 
and merchandise his products in sections 
where Alfalfa meal has been extensively 
produced. If the New York State 
farmer has relatively cheap land and con¬ 
ditions are favorable for the production 
of corn and forage crops of some descrip¬ 
tion, then it is my belief that he could 
make no mistake by gradually getting into 
the business of producing pork for the 
market. Unfortunately, from the farm¬ 
er's standpoint, market conditions are less 
inviting in the East than in the Middle 
West, particularly for the shipment of 
live animals. Usually it is necessary for 
the Eastern farmer to slaughter the. ani¬ 
mals at the farm and merchandise the 
dressed carcasses. 
Any extensive operation in pork pro¬ 
duction must center around the. use of 
forage crops, particularly rape. oats. Soy 
beans, and the sprinkling of the various 
clovers, and the producing of a certain 
amount of corn. This practice involves 
the purchase of certain protein feeds or 
the so-called corn balancers, in order to 
provide a well-balanced ration for the 
growing animals. Since there are more 
breeders of Duroc Jersey than Spotted 
Boland Chinas in New York State, it 
would undoubtedly be easier for you to 
sell breeding stock or obfaiu foundation 
animals. However, this is a matter for 
your own decision, for there is a good and 
inferior type within every breed. You 
cannot produce pork profitably unless you 
use as your agency specimens that can 
put on flesh quickly and profitably. 
Pasture for Hogs 
Next Spring I shall have 45 or 50 
young pigs. I shall have the milk of 
seven cows toward feeding, and two yards 
for each pen of hogs. What kind of feed 
would you advise to serve in the yards so 
that they can have grain feed all the time? 
I want to plant six or seven acres of po¬ 
tatoes. 15 acres of oats, 15 acres corn. 
The soil is dark sandy loam. What kind 
of fertilizer is best for corn and oats? 
They tell me that the temperature of my 
district in a little cold for corn to give a 
big yield. How much corn and oats shall 
I seed? w. j. k. 
New York. 
As a forage crop for swine there is 
nothing superior to a combination mixture 
of 30 lbs. oats. 5 lbs. Dwarf Essex rape 
and 5 lbs. Red clover. This mixture is 
sufficient for an acre of land. Seeding* 
can be made as early in the Spring as it 
its possible to plow the ground and prop¬ 
erly prepare the seed bed. Since you 
have a number of areas that it is pro¬ 
posed to use for forage crops, you will 
find it advantageous to make successive 
plantings, say 10 or 15 days apart. For 
areas to be seeded as late as May 20, a 
combination consisting of a bushel of 
Soy beans, 5 lbs. Dwarf Essex rape and 
8 lbs. white-blooming Sweet clover should 
be used. This combination makes a splen¬ 
did forage, and it can be used late in the 
season to finish off some of your market 
animals. 
The best results with forage crops for 
swine result from pasturing these areas 
wheu the plants are from 7 to 9 in. in 
height. Provided you have an abundance 
of forage, the oat plants will shoot up 
and head out, and if allowed to ripen, 
sufficient of the matured oats will shake 
off and reseed the area and provide a fine 
forage for Fall feeding. If the Soy bean 
seed is too expensive, you can use Dwarf 
Essex rape alone, seeding it in rows Hi 
to 18 in. apart, and cultivating it during 
the beginning of the season. A given 
area of rape seeded in rows will yield 
more forage than will result from broad¬ 
casting. Four pounds of seed is sufficient 
for one acre. 
As a fertilizer I would suggest the use 
of a so-called 4-8-4 mixture, and would 
apply it at the rate of 300 lbs. per acre. 
If it is true that soil conditions in your 
district are unfavorable to early planting, 
then it would be necessary for you to 
use earlier maturing varieties of corn. 
I would suggest, the use of 1.lice’s Favor¬ 
ite. This will mature in your district and 
yield a satisfactory crop. As to the 
amount of corn required, you will find 
that one bushel, or 50 lbs., of uniform 
corn will plant about 4% acres. 
As to the amount of oats to seed per 
acre, on good soil 2*4 bushels per acre 
will be sufficient. If the soil is less fer¬ 
tile and there will be less tendency for 
the oats to stool out. seed three bushels 
Fattening Hogs 
. Is the following a balanced ration for 
fattening hogs, and what would be the 
results of suddenly discontinuing the use 
of tankage? Corn. 200 lbs.; rye. 200 lbs.; 
oats. 150 lbs.: bran. 50 lbs.: mixed feed, 
50 lbs.: liuseed. 30 lbs., and tankage, 
30 lbs. H. B. Y. 
Royertown. Pa. 
The ration suggested would do very well 
for feeding growing auimals. but it is not 
primarily the best combination for fatten¬ 
ing purposes. If your animals will weigh, 
say. 125 lbs., then it would be feasible 
for you to eliminate the bran and oats 
and reduce the amount of protein. Usu¬ 
ally 5 lbs. of tankage it. sufficient to bal¬ 
ance 100 lbs. of corn or rye for fattening 
purposed. If you omitted the tankage 
and linseed meal entirely, more corn 
would be required for a given gain. In 
order to obtain the best results for fat¬ 
tening purposes, it is necessary to feed 
concentrated feed : a combination of 100 
lbs. corn. 50 lbs. rye and 7 lbs. tankage 
would give good results. If you prefer 
to substitute linseed meal for the tankage, 
then I should replace the 7 lbs. of tankage 
with 12 lbs. of linseed meal. More pro¬ 
tein is required in rations for young and 
growing pigs than it is necessary to in¬ 
corporate in a feed intended primarily 
for fattening purposes. 
“Why do you not deal with me now?” 
asked a butcher of a woman who had for¬ 
merly visited his shop regularly. “Well, 
the last piece of meat I had from you 
was so tough that I could have soled my 
shoes with it.” “Then why did you not 
do it?” asked the nettled butcher. “Be¬ 
cause I could get no tacks that would go 
through it.”—New York Globe. 
per acie. 
“High-Priced” Unicom 
Makes Low-Cost Feed 
Feed this way 
with clover hay 
For November, four out of 
the ten highest cows in all 
Indiana cow testing associa¬ 
tions were fed Unicorn. 
Average milk . . 1609.5 lbs. 
Average fat ... 59.9 lbs. 
Those who are not feeding 
Unicorn say that it is “high- 
priced.” 
Those who are feeding Uni¬ 
corn say that it gives them a 
greater profit than they can 
get with any other feed. 
The Unicorn feeders know 
that it’s not the price of a thing 
that counts, but how much 
you get for your money. 
There’s more milk and more 
profit in a ton of Unicorn than 
there is in a ton of any other feed 
—home-mixed or boughten. 
Use Unicorn and cut down 
your feed bills. Goes farther. 
Lasts longer. Actually costs 
less —not more. 
Chapin <Sl Company 
Chicago 
New' England Office at Boston 
