Experiments in the disposal of irrigated crops through the use of hogs by Holden James A

Author:Holden, James A. [from old catalog]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Irrigation, Swine
Publisher: Washington [Govt. print. off.]
Published: 1917-03-25T05:00:00+00:00

When a charge of $15 per acre is made for the alfalfa pasture, the total cost per 100 pounds of gain was as follows: No-grain lot, $2.38; 1 per cent corn lot, $3.29; 2 per cent corn lot, $3.22; 2 per cent barley lot, $3.14; and the 3 per cent corn lot, $3.48. The no-grain lot made gains for $1.15 per hundredweight less than the 3 per cent corn lot did. It might appear from this that to pasture hogs on alfalfa without grain is the best practice, but this is not generally true, because of the much smaller returns of pork per acre.

Perhaps the most impressive thing shown in Table V is the amount paid for hay and its very rapid increase with the increase in the grain rations. The 2-year average yield of alfalfa hay from the check plats was 5.52 tons per acre. On this basis and assuming that the care of the hogs is equal to the cost of harvesting the hay, the no-grain lot paid an equivalent of $8.10; the 1 per cent grain lot paid $12.71; the 2 per cent grain lots, an average of $22.07, and the 3 per cent grain lot, $30.48 a ton for alfalfa.

It seems certain that it will pay the farmer to feed hogs on alfalfa pasture at least 2 pounds of corn daily per 100 pounds of live weight. By so doing he will not only get a higher return from his alfalfa, but he may expect also to make a profit on the corn fed. According to these results, it requires less capital for the same net return where grain is fed than where no grain is fed. When a 3 per cent corn ration is fed with alfalfa pasture, 1 acre will produce as much pork as 6.5 acres of alfalfa without grain, or a saving of 5.5 acres of land. Again, when fed a 3 per cent corn ration with alfalfa pasture, 52 pigs will make as much pork as 156 pigs on alfalfa pasture alone.

ALFALFA PASTURE FOR SOWS AND LITTERS.

The following is a discussion of the results obtained by pasturing sows and their litters on alfalfa pasture. The first experiment began in the spring of 1914, as soon as the alfalfa was large enough to pasture, and continued 00 days. There were two sows and their pigs in each lot. During the first month and a half the quarter-acre plat furnished plenty of pasture, but after that time the pigs were so large that the pasture could not carry them all. When the pigs were large enough to wean, one or both of the sows were removed to prevent overpasturing.

The sows and pigs were fed daily approximately 2 pounds of corn for each 100 pounds of the weight of both sows and pigs. At first the grain was fed to the sows only, but later, when the pigs began to eat, they were fed separately. A small opening was made in the dividing fence, so that the pigs could go from one half of the pasture to the other.

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