Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1871-01-06
Cooked Food for Swine.

Two experiments were made in
feeding corn to five half-blooded
Berkshire pigs Of the same litter,
the first experiment being with old
corn shelled and fed in three differ
ent forms, viz: fed whole, ground
and made into slop with cold wa
ter, ground and boiled and fed cold.
The result Of this experiment was
that five bushels of whole corn made
forty-scven and three-fourths pounds
of pork; five bushels of corn, less
miller's toll, ground and made into
thick slop with colo water, made
fifty-eight and half pounds ofpork;
and the same amount of meal well
boiled aud fed cold made eighty
three and a half pounds Of pork. In
each case the food was administered
regularly and without waste, and
other precautions were taken to Sc
cure fairness Of comparison. With
the whole corn, kitchen slops were
given, without milk; and of the
boiled meal one or two quarts were
thinned with cold water or house
slops, for drink. The corn was cs-
timated at sl.3o per bushel, and the
pork at sl4 per hundred weight. In
the case where the whole corn was
fed, the price of the corn equalled
the value of the pork. The same
amount of corn ground, cooked and
fed cold, returned the price of the
corn, and $ per bushel in addition.
The second experiment was with
nubbins, or soft new corn, fed in
two forms, viz: on the ear, and
shelled and boiled.
Ten bushels of corn on the cob,
fed on the ground, made twenty
nine and half pounds Of pork.
Corn shelled from the same amount
Of ears and then ground by horse
power and we'll boiled, made sixty
four pounds Of pork. The pork
made from cooked food was as firm
as that made from uncooked. In sup
plement to these experiments the
narrator states, that under circum-
stances apparently equivalent to
those above reported, three bushels
Of meal with five bushels of pota-
toes; cooked, made scventy-two and
a half pounds Of pork, and ten bush
els of corn on the ear, ground and
boiled, made seventy-onc pounds.
From his experiments he draws the
conclusion that it is more cconomi-
cal to allow food to become cold be-
fore it is fed out, and that in this
state a larger amount will be eaten
and with a better appetite.
The following is summary of an
experiment by w. G. Baggerly, of
Wayne county, New York, in feed
ing pure bred Chester White pigs,
Uttered March 81, 1868. The pigs
were kept in thrifty condition until
October "a, when Mr.. Bagserly
commenced feeding to them as much
shelled corn as they would consume,
amounting in quantity to one bushcl
per day for the four animals. The
result as exhibited for the week
ending November 6, was an aver
age daily gain Of nine pounds on
the weight of the pigs. The value
of this increase is stated to be II
cents per pound, the shellcd corn
thus returning a value of $l.o8 per
bushel. During the eleven DAYS
following, cooked Indian meal was
fed, at the rate Of three-fourlhs of a
bushcl per day. The resu!t was an
average gain in total weight Of
eleven pounds daily, making the
cooked meal return a value of sl.65
per bushcl.
The food was then changed to
cooked potatoes and meal, in the
proportion of four bushels of pota-
toes to one Of meal; the meal being
stirred in after the potatoes were
cooked. The result Of eight days
trial was an average consumption
per day of one and quarter bush
els of the mixture, and an average
total gain in weight per day of nine
and three quarter pounds, each
bushel Of potato and meal mixture
returning a value of ninety cents.
Although the experimental draws
conclusions in favor of such a mix
ture Of meal and potatoes as prin-
cipal food, examination of the re-
suits will not justify this preference
over the cooked meal, except in To-
calities where the money value of
potatoes is in very low ratio to that
Of corn.-A0riculsural Report.