SWINE FEEDING IN COLORADO. 
Q 
thrift and breeding qualities; but their value when used as 
the basis of a fattening ration is not so well determined. 
As this is the way they are being used in this state, several 
experiments with beets were planned to determine whether 
or not they can be made a part of a fattening ration with 
profit. Many farmers have reported feeding them alone to 
hogs with good results, but the chemical composition of 
sugar beets is prima facia evidence that hogs cannot make 
good and profitable gains when fed on beets alone, because 
there is not sustenance enough in the amount of them a 
hog can eat and digest, to do much more than maintain the 
animal at a constant weight. According to feeding stand¬ 
ards, a hog weighing 200 pounds to make the best gain, 
needs digestible nutrients as shown in the following table: 
Digestible Digestible Digestible 
Dry Matter. Protein. Carbohydrates. Ether Ext. 
Standard for 200 lb. hog 0,41bs. 0.8 lbs. 4.8 lbs. 0.1 lbs. 
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF SUGAR BEETS.—POUNDS IN IOO. 
Dry Digestible Digestible Digestible 
Matter. Protein. Carbohydrates. Ether Extract. 
20.0 1.135 16.007 0.051. 
In 25 pounds of sugar beets there would be digestible 
nutrients as follows: 
Dry 
Matter. 
Sugar Beets \ n 
25 lbs. / °' u 
Digestible Digestible Digestible 
Protein. Carbohydrates. Ether Extract. 
0.284 
4.002 
0.013- 
Twelve and a half pounds was all we could get a hun¬ 
dred-pound hog to eat in one day during the experiment. 
By comparison it will be seen how far short of the standard 
25 pounds of beets would be for a two hundred-pound hog, 
were it possible to get him to eat that amount. However, 
if beets could be made to take the place of some grain in 
the fattening ration supplying them might be of advantage. 
HOME GROWN GRAIN VS. CORN. 
By home grown grains is meant wheat, barley, oats, 
and such other small grains as are grown in Colorado. It 
would be hard to give an intelligent estimate of the amount 
of corn that is annually shipped into the state for feeding 
purposes. Feeders have frequently resorted to home grown 
grains during periods of high prices of corn. It is a com¬ 
mon custom to trade wheat and barley off for corn. Even 
this last winter when wheat was $1.00 per hundred pounds, 
and at one time as low as 90 cents per hundred, feeders 
