The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1892-10-13

an emlnently unfit man for the posi-
tion he holds.
But if he was the God.like states
man some of his friends describe him
the welfare of the state demands hi
retirement.
1t is never safe TO prophesy unles
you Know, and l will not make tn
venture, but l will declare what
believe, and that is that the most in
lelligent and progressive farmers ii
Iexas, and they are numerous, will b,
found supporting George Clark.
This is not strictly ''farmn nat
nut 1t is very closely connected W
the farmers interests.
COTTON SEED AS HOG FEED.
IL is generally understood that cot
ton seed in its first stage after passing
through the gin is injurious, if no
1ataI, to hogs. Some attribute tn,
evil effect to the lint on the seed
which is supposed in some way t.
clog the machinery of the an nal
while others believe the mischlef is
caused by the excess of oil III he SEED
which acts as a poison. For the pas
two years experiments have beer
going on at the Texas
agricultural experiment station
under the direction of Prof, G. w
Curtis with view to determining
the value, if any, of cotton seed, az
hog feed.
The result of these experiments has
just been published in bulletin No. q
and will interest all engaged in the
cultivation of hogs. The tests made
were we'll planned and carefully car.
rled out, and may be accepted as con-
elusive. The object was to determine;
First-Will cotton seed kill hogs? II
so, in what proportion, how prepared
and for what age of hogs will be the
fatal dose?
Second-If in any form it may be
possible to feed it, or its product
meal, with safety, can we cheaper cost
of gain nAr pound by use of low priced
cotton seed or meal, Instead of high
priced corn?
Third-If both the above be
answered in the affirmative, by what
method of preparing may we make
the greatest gain?
The results of tests made in 1891
were so startling and contrary to ex'
pectation that it was considered wise
to repeat them again this year, be.
fore giving them to the world. AS
this years experiments confirm the
predecessors they are now publish
ed in detail, so as to be
easily understood.
An idea of the character of the tests
may be CLEANED from brief summary
of the tables.
There were five pens, containing
three hogs each, assorted in size and
age. The "largen were 10 to Il
months old, the medium" 5 to
months, .and the "small' Sl-2 to 4
months.
No. pen were fed on cotton seed
meal and corn-water as wanted.
No. 2 pen, raw cotton seed, soaked
water as wanted.
No. 8 pen, boiled cotton seed and
as wanted.
No. 4 pen, roasted cotton seed and
corn, water as wanted.
No. pen, corn only, water as wan
ted.
The test extended over thirty-three
DAYS and the animals were weighed
four times during that period. The
first four pens received in addition tc
the cotton seed ration, 165 pounds Of
corn each, during the thirty-three
days.
Pen No. was fed with corn only
amounting to 460 pounds. 1t was
found that No. pen gave the best re-
suit or 100 pounds gain at a cos6 OF
S2.51. No 3. pen fed on boiled seed
was next, showing 100 pounds at
cost of $3.50.
No. A pen followed, showing lOC
pounds for 1921.
No. 2 pen was next, claiming $4.27
per 100 pounds.
No. pen made even a worse show
ing, as in it 100 pounds Of grain cost
From this it is clear that cotton seed
in any of the before named conditions
is not an economical hog feed, and
that boiling is the best treatment. LII
was found that the medium sized hogs
made more gain than the others. So
much for feeding value of cotton seed,
now as to it's fatal effects. Out of the
twelve hogs fed on cotton seed seven ID
of them died between March "a
and April IL. Three of them being
tsmaliu and four medium" sized.
In other words only one small hog
and all the large ones survived the
but these continued to sur
vive on the same ration for sixty days
Two had eaten cotton-seed meal; two
raw seed soaked; two roasted seed; and
one boiled seed. In 1891 ten out OF
fifteen died-five of them fed on cotton
seed meal, four on roasted seed ana
one on boiled seed. This proves that
boiled seed is not only the beat feed
but is less injurious in it's effect.
The whole experiment is thus COM
on by Professor Curtis
After two years successive tests
in feeding cotton seed and cotton SEED
meal to hogs with definite aim IN
view aud after practical attempts to
use these products in similar man
ner for the past ten years we 90 mol
hesitate to express our candid opinion
that there is no profit whatever in
feeding cotton seed meal to hogs OF
anv age. To those who have tried 1t
carefully and have taken pains to note
oxactIy what their hogs were doing
this statement will not be at all sur
nrising. 1t is fact, which no amount
af theory can overcome, that it is prac-
tically impossible to prepare COTTON