Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1882-04-13
Clover Necessary for the Healthy
Growth of Hogs.

By b. ;. hoxie IN Clover Lea for 1882.
1t came in my way the past summer
to frequently pass held of clover which
had been fenced of Tor a hog pasture,
and noticing the amount of feed and
the thrift and general appearance of
the hogs, was somewhat anxious as
to the results, so q few days since |
called upon the owner of the farm for
an interview, and as intelligent farmers
are always willing to impart informa-
ton, at once stated my business.
"Oh, yes, can give my opinion and
the results, but special details we have
no time to bother with. The lot we
call twenty acres, including the small
grove and spring in one corner. We
sowed it with oats last season, and
stocked down with clover, part medium
and the balance mammoth. The first
| of June, this summer, We turned in
ninety hogs, but this made no impress
ion on the clover, so we turned in ten
colts, fifteen head OF young cattle, and
fifty sheep, and all they m mayed to
keep it within bounds. About the first
of August We took out the cattle and
mmenced feeding corn"
"Could you discover any difference
between the medium and the mammoth
clover as to its food value?"
Yes; the nam moth was much the
best; it kept green longer and would
have yielded large quantity of hay.
Now as to the results: A few days ego.
| took car load of those hogs to Chi
cago, and the average weight of the
| forty-two, to fill the car, was fraction
less than 400 rounds. or in other words,
the AZ hogs weighed 1870 pounds,
netting the snug little sum of $107S,
and | received five cents per hundred
more than any hogs sold in the market
that day, because they were nice,
even lot and in splendid condition for
the Philadelphia market. The balance
of the lot will be ready to ship in few
days
Notwithstanding this farmer cannot
give us the exact weight of the hogs
when turned into the clover pasture,
nor the gain in pounds on the first day
of August, yet | am sure the facts as
given will warrant the oft assertion that
clover pasture is the most profitable
feed for young hogs. One of our large
beeders of Poland China hogs, who has
reen breeding fine stock for years, says
that he has never had single case of
hog cholera on his farm, and he attri
butes it to the fact that he always lets
his breeding stock run to grass and clo-
yer pasture. The fact is, large majo-
rity of our farmers and breeders are
breeding for fat and show, and the warp
or muscle is not sufficient to hold the
filling, and hogs are getting organic
disease by this continued craming
process.
The English, French and Germans
tell us that their pork is better than
ours, with better preserving qualities.
They fatten largely on pea food which
| contains a large amount of nitregonous
element, which is absolutely necessary
to the physical growth of ali animal
kind. There are hundreds of hogs
| taken to all of our home markets every
year that either die in transit-thus
entailing loss on the shipper-or they
have to be slaughtered for home mark
ct, just for the reason that there Is not
enough muscle to support the body:
and only few days since / have read
in one of our local papers of one farm
er whose hogs were so fat that the
| shippers refused to take them and he
was obliged to kill them at home.
| AS matter of course, corn will be
the great staple for hog food in the
West, but with this farmers must learn
wisdom from experience, and proven
ton is better than cure, especially IN
cholera. Peas may not be a profitable
crop for the western farmer to raise.
but clover certainly is, either as for
pasture or renovater; and for the
reason that the clover plant so largely
abounds in nitrogen, it is more especl-
ally adapted to hogs and young shoats,
and though they would not fatten on it
in winter, yet it should be largely used
as winter food, if the farmer would
wish to keep healthy race of hogs.