The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1875-08-26
Pork and a Bushel of Corn.

THERE are many sources of possible
error arising from the quality of the corn,
the fineness with which it is ground, the
method of feeding, either raw or cooked,
the difference in the fattening capacities of
pigs, owing to peculiarities of disposition,
etc. Still, the experience of others is
worth something, and may safely be taken
as some general guide.
One farmer, who made an effort to sat
isty himself on the question as to the guam
tity of Indian meal it required to make a
pound of pork, weighed off two hogs a
year and half old, and three pigs six
months old, on the first day of Septcm-
Der, then measured off old corn accurately
and had it ground. Every night he wet in
boiling water meal enough for the next
days use to such a consistency that it
would run readily. The hogs had no
Stops from the house and nothing but
meal and water. On the 1st of December
they were killed, and five cents pound
was deducted for what they weighed on
the LIST of September, when the trial be-
gan, and he found that, allowing six cents
a pound for the pork which they actual
ly laid on during the trial, they had
paid ninety-eight cents per bushel for the
corn, which gave him just about 1874
pounds Of pork to the bushel Another
farmer weighed a thrifty pig, five months
old, $50 pounds, and then fed fifty-six
pounds of corn meal mixed with hot
water, thin enough for hasty pud-
ding. This bushel of meal was consumed
by the pig in six and half days, and the
gain was just eighteen pounds. Another
farmer put up part Suffolk SOW to fatten.
Her weight was 235 pounds. From Oct
4 (her weight being at that date 295
pounds) to Nov. II he fed her ten bush
els, or $50 pounds, of marketable corn,
and killed her at the latter date. Her live
weight just before she was killed was Alb
pounds, or an increase from the ten bush
els of corn Of 11S pounds of pork, being
slight fraction over four and half
pounds of corn to one pound of pork, or
a fraction less than twelve pounds of pork
from bushel Of corn, an increase per
day of a little less than two and three
quarter pounds. The price of corn at
that time, in his neighborhood, was sew
enty cents a bushel, so that the pork cost
him over seven cents pound and he Just
barely got out of it whole, after allowing
for shrinking.
Probably, taking all the accurate trials
together, the general average would be
about ten and one-half pounds of pork to
bushel Of corn of tifty-six pounds, and
from this 1t is fair to deduct about one
fifth, to get at the net weight, leaving, say,
20 or $40 pounds of pork as the average
net result of the judicious feeding of a
bushel of corn, or one pound of pork from
six and two-thirds pounds of corn I'M
cooked. The lowest amount of cooked
corn meal is stated at three and fourfifth
pounds to pound of pork, which is not
far from what we stated it last week.
Now taking all these experiments and
we could easily show the relation which
the price of corn bears to that of pork, by
showing the price of pork per pound, at
different prices per bushel for corn. If
corn were twelve and half cents bushel
pork would cost cent and half per
pound, and in that proportion throughout;
or irving il in decimals we have.