Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1873-04-01
rcOmmunieated.1
Experiments in Feeding Pigs.

Ma. EDIroR.-Many of the Herald
readers are interested in some expert
ments that | have been making in
feeding pigs, and a. / do not obtain
such results as are frequently publish
ed by other feeders Of swine it may
be interesting to them to know that
they can make as many pounds of
pork from bUshel of dry raw corn,
as from bushel of corn, ground and
cooked.
A majority of feeders guess at what
they are doing, and in many instan-
ces come to wrong conclusions You
will see by this that | get more tor
my corn fed dry and raw. than / do
when il il grouad aud cooked |
raise and fat,en from 100 to $50 pigs
each year. ard having read SO much
OF the saving of feed that might be
made by cooking. that l purchased
one of Anderson's Steamers, intend.
ing to make some experiments and if
they prove satisfactory, l would then
cook for ell my stock
| selected 10 smooth, even pigs,
that were about twelve months old,
cross of Berkshire with common
stock, that had run out over the farm,
and for two months had been fed all
the corn they would eat, on the 18th
of February | weighed them. The
weight was 5082. 1 continued to
feed them, as they had previously
been fed on corn in the ear, with all
the water they would drink They
were fed this way for % days and
again weighed on March 18th. Tie
weight was 5749 fbs., gain of 667tbs
then began feeding thick mush, or
hasty pudding, made by bringing the
water to boiling heat. then stirring
10 the meal, with the steam still on,
and allowing it to cook for five or ten
minutes. also added salt enough to
season it TO suit my taste. They
were fed OF this mush all they would
eat up clean, three times each day,
for Is DAYS, aud then again weighed,
on the IL of April. The weight
aow was 6425 fbs, or o gain on the
cooked feed OF 676 lbs. The pigs ate
in the first % days So bushels of corn,
in the next % days they ate Is bush
els of corn, less the toll, ground fine
and cooked into mush. The raw corn
gave l24 lbs. ofpork per busheI. while
the cooked feed gave only 9 lbs. OF
pork per bushel | thought that the
difference must be owing to the pigs
having come so near to maturity thai
| they would not take on flesh so fast
tor the feed consumed; so to satisfy
myself about that, put eleven back
onto raw corn again, and eight l con.
tinued to feed with the cooked meal
or mush. | fed them thus for six
weeks or until May 18th. when
weighed them again. | did not meas
ure or weigh the feed in this expert.
ment. The eleven fed on raw corr
| gained ia the six weeks 483 ID =. or an
average of Al lbs. each, whi,e the
eight fed on mush gained 294 lbs. OF
an average of 81 lbs. each.
These experiments are very much
| III laNOT Va TAW corn IOr IatL6nl0g
purposes, especially when we take
into consideration the extra labor OF
shelling the corn, drawing it to and
from the mill, cooking, ect. ! wae
very much disappointed at the result
Again tried another experiment
with litter of eight pigs, resulting
still more ia favor of raw corn
Do any others meet with like suc'
cess And is it all humbug to cook
corn meal for fattening hogs? Ny
pigs were kept in a piggery, witt
plank floors and the pens cleaned
every day. gave no water with The
mush as the amount of water in il
was three times as much as the pig
would drink while eating raw corn
There was also great difference il
the gain per day OF the hogs, som,
gaining only. one 10. per day for th'
90 days, while others would gain on,
and half and two TBS each per day
From the experience have had II
feeding swine / am satisfied that th'
farmers of Wisconsin have u t got
twenty cts. per bushei for their corr
for the past two years
l. r. BINGHAM.
Bloomington March, g. 1873