Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1883-11-01

! Thestylesof market pig has UNDER
gone great change within few years !
The large 400 to 50O-poupd hog is now
seldom found The. over brown hog is.
no longer sotghtAfer, I'D pig-feeding
has been more cafefully'studed of late
years. Shrewd feeders have found that
the older the hog, the more its carcass
costs per pound 1t is also found that
the flesh of the large hog is coarser and
stronger, and not as sweet and fine fla.
vored, as a ten to twelve months pig.
1t is true, the older and overwhelmed
hog yields more lard, but this does not
carry profit with it, as lard often brings
no higher price than the side pork. The
inducement, therefore. to grow these
large hogs no longer exists and the 300
pound pig has displaced the 5OO-pound
hog. - -
The time was when pigs were raised,
by a slow growth, to be fattened after
ward. s. Farmers often kept q lot, Of
shoats over winter, without expecting
them, to increase in weight much, so
that he might have them ready to fattenl
the following fall. These were pastured
and given, house Stops through the sum-
mer, making a growth during the eight
to ten months of forty to sixty pounds.
This was what was called a healthy
growth! 1t was healthy for the pig. 1t
was very unhealthy for the, farmers
pocket, as the amount OF gain was. not
one-half the cost Of keep, 60:
- But the farmer did, not then figure the
cost of keep; as closely as he does now;
in fact, he probably meyer took an ac-i
curate account Of the cost of wintering
II pig without any material gain i'm
weight. But when ehe examines the
question he finds that the store pig has
often cost more than he need to have
cost, to have weighed 800 pounds, by q
proper system of feeding. He finds that
to keep the balance on the right side of
the ledger the pig must always be kept
gaining, for it is only out of gain in
weight that he gets pay for his. feed, and
when the pig stops gaining then the loss
begins. 3 ;.:rr,sGfEt TtXe Il asa z5.ss1l
-oa.:But, ''tsays one, sswhy not let the
pig keep on gaining till he is two years
Cid, when he will weigh 500 or more
pounds, and bring a price worth hav-
ingP" This is just the question that
should be asked and answered, and
every feeder should fully comprehend
the answer. The answer, is, that it
takes less food to, put a pound growth
upon a, fifteen or twenty pound pig,
four weeks old, than upon fifty pound
pig, two months old, and less to put
pound on a fifty pound pig than. on a
1O0-pOund pig; or, in other words, the
younger the animal, the less it costs in
food to add a pound to it's weight aAs
a general proposition, it takes more
and more food to add d pound. Live
weight, to an animal, the older it be-
comes, until it reaches maturity 1t
takes from thirty to forty per cent. more
food to full-feed pig the second year
than the first, and the, gain is only
about two-thirds as much rs the first
year. This shows clearly that it costs
double to grow 100 pounds Of pork on
the pig the second year that it does the
firstLa pretty good reason why the pig
should be sold at the end of the. year.
Besides, the market, as a general rule,
offers no inducement for acknowledgement
the first year. A well-fed pig, that
weighs 800 pounds. will bring as good
a price per pound as when kept longer;
so there is nothing to be gained in price
but much, if not all, the profit is lost by
keeping the second year. The market
has fixed upon 800 pounds as a. profit
able weight, and the farmers interest
wholly agrees with this. s q tl
Ten months good feeding will often.
reach that weight. Skillfui feeding
consists in growing the largest amount
of meatat a given cost, and such q feeder
is not afraid of throwing away foodfby
giving pigs all they will eat with good
appetite. He thoroughly understands
the element Of. time in the. feeding
problem, and that, when he can shorten,
the time for the pig to reach 800
pounds, he has increased the profit.
Our system of pig-feeeiing is not forcing, 1
but judiciously giving the pig what it |
can digest and yet keep a good appe-
tite.-Live Stock Journal.