The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1883-10-04
GREEN FOOD FOR SWINE.

speaks from experience on pork
growing, in the AmericGn Agricaa-
tm'ist for October.
Green food makes thriftier and
larger hogs. Farmers who raise
many pigs, and feed them exclu-
sively on corn, know that some OF
the shotes will cease to grow at an
early age, begin to lay on fat, and
never reach the size of good, mer-
chantable hogs. This tendency to
fatten prematurely, at the expense
OF bone growth, is not seen to any
great extent in CRASHED hogs. A
pig fed on bulky green food will
develop a larger stomach than one
fed on concentrated food like corn ;
and when you come 10 fatten it,
this enlarged capacity will enable
it to eat and digest more corn,
and thus fatten faster than the
other, and be more profitable hog
to grow for market.
Grass.fed hogs are healthier than
those granted. Every intelligent
breeder knows the advantages OF
feeding green food to sows about
to farrow. They have less difficulty
with their pigs, are less liable to
destroy them, will give more milk,
and nurse them better. Grass-fed
hogs are less liable to disease.
The dreaded hog cholera is not
much to be feared where hogs have
the run ola good clover pasture.
Undoubtedly, if exposed to con.
tagion, they would take the disease,
but they are not likely to develop
it. For example, farmer had his
hogs in small pen, destitute OF
grass, with no water except mud
dy pool, which soon was made as
vile as possible by the hogs. After
while the hogs began to die in
considerable numbers, with symp,
toms resembling cholera. The
owner was alarmed, took them out
of this pen, turned them On patch
of green rye, and gave them water
from we'll. The disease was
checked and the deaths ceased.
How may green food be most
cheaply provided2 Rye is the crop
best adapted to this purpose, in
the region west OF Missouri. This
should be sown early in the fall, on
well prepared soil, and if the grow.
ing season continues late in the fall,
so that the rye is likely to joint, it
must be fed down closely. The
best condition for it to go into win
ter, IS when it covers the ground
with q thick mat of low leaves
with but little tendency to shoot.
Rye in this condition is fit to turn
on as soon as growth begins in
spring. The amount OF feed which
two acres of such rye will furnish,
is surprising. If not fed down too
close, and the stock be turned off
about the middle of May or the first
of June, the rye will still make a
fair crop. Hogs are sometimes left
on rye until it fills, when they will
pull it down and eat the heads;
but this practice is not commended.
There is time after the rye is
foot high until it is in milk, that
hogs do not eat it well. A better
plan is to have field of clover or
of clover and timothy OF orchard
grass, ready for the pigs when the
rye is too large to be longer avail
able. When the rye is getting TOO
large. the clover is in the best state
to turn upon. The clover will do
well until about the middle of June,
when, if the weather turns eff hot
and dry, it grows, quite slowly. It
is well to have patch of oats sown
near and ready to tide over this
time. If not needed it can grow
for the harvest. During the hot
weather of July, August, and Sep
tember, none OF the crops named
above can be fully relied on, and
this is especially true where they
have been fed too closely. Sor.
ghum or Brown Dourra may be
sown broadcast about the last of
May and again the middle of June,
to be used in July and August Ex-
perience shows that Sorghum may
be eaten off close to the ground
when foot to eighteen inches
high, without serious injury. 1t
will come mp again and grow right
along. It is also an excellent plant
to stand dry weather.
Al - L.