Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1891-04-24
LIVE STOCK THAT PAYS,
SOME EXPERIMENTS IN VARYING
TIE FOOD OF SWINE.

Corn Meal and Skim Milk and Barley
and Skim Nilk-Corn Is the Most Valu-
able as IL Fattening Food, but Barley
Builds Bone and Muscle-Varicty.
Professor w. A. Henry, of the Wis
consin Experiment station, has been en-
p~erimenting with barley as feed as COM
pared with corn.
The purpose of this experiment vas
to determine the value Of barley in COM
parison with corn for hog feeding. In
the first trial ten hogs, fourteen months
old, were divided into two lots of five
each. To the first lot was fed barley
meal, while the second received corn
meal. The experiment continued eight
weeks, during which time the first lot
of hogs consumed 2,S32 pounds of barley
meal, and gained COL pounds. In the
same time the second lot of hogs con-
sumed 300 pounds of corn meal, and
gained 713 pounds. From this we find
that: Lot 1 required All pounds of bar
ley meal for 100 pounds gain. Lot g re-
Quired 435 pounds of corr meal for 100
pounds gain.
This shows that it required 3G pounds,
or 8 per cent. more barley meal thancorn
meal to produce 100 pounds of gain. In
this experiment both feeds We're soaked
with water. 1t was found that it re-
qulred about 3 pounds of water to prop
erly soak a pound Of barley meal, while
a pound of corn meal required but 2
pounds of water. The hogs fed on
barley meal consumed 80 pounds of
water daily with the feed, while the
hogs on corn meal consumed 90 pounds
daily. Even with this large amount of
water in the feed the barley hogs drank
2 pounds extra daily from a separate
trough, while the corr meal hogs drank
but three-fourths of a pound.
In the next experiment the pigs were
about five months old at the beginning
of the trial. There were six pigs in each
lot. Lot 1 was fed barley meal and
sweet skim milk; lot 2, corn meal and
sweet skim milk. The experiment. lasted
nine weeks, during which time lot 1 con.
sumed 1893 pounds of barley meal, 2,404
pounds of sweet skim milk and gained
GOA pounds. In the same time lot 2 con
sumed 1907 pounds of corr meal, 2,192
pounds of sweet skim milk and gained
sol pounds. Lot 1 consumed 800 pounds
of barley meal and 1893 pounds of sweet
skim milk for 100 pounds of gain. Lot
consumed 306 pounds of corn meal and
81 pounds of sweet skim milk for 100
pounds of gain.
Again, there is a difference Of about s
per cent. in favor of the corn. These ex-
periments showed that when feeding bar.
ley care should be taken to prepare the
food SC as to render it palatble. Hogs
will eat corn meal in almost any shape
dry, wet, and even sour; when fed bar.
ley meal their preference calls for con.
siderable soaking in u comparatively
large amount of water. Our results show
that barley is not quite so valuable as
corn, pound for pound, for laying on fat
but we must remember that corn has J.;
very high feeding value in such cases us
this. One prime use for barley is in Civ
ing the farmer an additional variety OF
feed.
AS a rule we have too few kinds o.
feed upon u farms, and we rely toe
much Oh corn. In barley we have {
feed capable Of building up bone ant
muscle and serving a generally usefu
purpose OF the farm. In California il
is the almost universal horse feed, and ne
animals have more endurance thar
horses raised and fed on rolled barley
Barley is the common grain feed Of Eng
land and north Europe. In the light o.
these facts, why should our farmer!
longer harbor any prejudice against it?