The sun., 1894-02-08
WHEAT VTRSUS HOGS.
HOW TO ESCAPE THE RESULTS OF
THE PAST BAD CROPS.
Necessity OF a Diversity An the
Farmers Efforts - How Forty
Seven Cent Wheat Gam he Made TO
Yield a Return.

The following article on the raising of
hogs should be read by every farmer III the
Northwest, and especially by farmers In
| Northern Minnesota and North Dakota. IT
I permanent prosperity of this section and IL
| from Gen. Mark d. Flower, who has given
| a great deal OF time to investigating the
points mentioned. 1t Is terse but compre-
| hensive as Its perusal will show:
The rapid decline In the market value of
| wheat throughout the world until the pres
| ent ruinous prices have been reached leads
to inquiry as to the causes that have pro-
| duced the result, and whether these causes
are of permanent or temporary nature.
| A few years ago 1t would have been con-
conditions of the wheat markets of the
| world, and yet, many Of our most 0bsery-
ing and capable business men are convinced
! that the low prices have come to stay, with
exceptions now and then when the crops
of other countries fail from natural causes.
| The price of wheat, like other commodi-
ties, Is regulated by the supply and de-
mand and while the demand has not and
| Is not likely to decrease, 1t is equally GER
tain that the supply Is rapidly increasing
| with the advent of new competitors who
possess many advantages over the American
farmer. The United States with its vast
empire Of productive soil can easily supply
the bread for the balance of the world; but
| can 1t do so with profit? If we cannot ex-
port wheat and leave margin OF profit for
! the producer, the sooner we learn the fact
and change our methods of agriculture, the
better for all.
Let us briefly note who our chief COM
| petitors are. India, Russia, Australia, and
some of the South American countries, with
! their recent advancement in modern meth
DDS of agriculture. and with their lately
| improved facilities for transporting their
, surplus grain, must, from now on, be con-
sidered Important factors in the world
markets, and he who does not heed this
fact and shape his efforts in husbandry ac-
cordingly will soon regret his lack of dis
In u
price of labor is not more than 80 per cent
! Of the American price, while in India a
days labor costs but few cents. India
, alone, with its vast areas of wheat fields
and it's recently improved transportation
| facilities, can pour it's almost unlimited
surplus into the markets of Europe at prices
that defy American competition. With
these conditions confronting us, is 1t not
time to call halt in exclusive wheat rails
/ ing? Have we not other and better re-
, sources? Have we not other and more
soil and climate, to which we can turn with
| profit in this hour of wheat bankruptcy?
| With wheat at At cents at the home station,
, the price is below the cost of production,
and poverty of soil and poverty of purse
are the logical consequence. Like a ship
at sea without q rudder, the more sail we
! carry the farther out Of our course we 60
The farmers of all of the Northwestern
states, including Southern Minnesota, have
all passed through the wheat period un-
/ der very much more favorable conditions
than now exist, but with the same financial
resultS-poverty, mortgages, exhausted soil
and bankruptcy. If our farmers will not be
guided by the experience Of their brothers,
there still remains the advantage of reach
Ing the same ends by the same old route,
but If they will change there will be a
saving of time and Of money.
Experience I'm Other States.
In Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Southern
| Minnesota, when the farmers from sheer
exhaustion We're driven to abandon exclu-
sive wheat production, their prosperity be-
gan. The farmer must not abandon wheat
raising entirely, but he must exercise tri-
he of the good sense he is usually supposed
to possess, and diversity according to the
peculiar circumstances Of his case, raising
SO, 60 or perhaps 70 per cent of his former
acreage while turning. his attention to 9TH
er lines-live stock dairy products and other
things, according to circumstances. There
Is an irrevocable economic law that he must
not violate with impunity and expect na-
ture to reward him; he must not cOntinu-
ously, year by year, raise wheat upon the
, same soil, without rest or recuperatiOn,
and expect good results. That immediate di-
versity in farming is urgent is conceded,
and this naturally raises the inquiry, what
can the farmer in the wheat belt substitute
for wheat? Without going into the consid-
eratlOn of the long list of products that
may profitably be substituted, we simply
name the hog. There is no product of the
farm that universally commands a better
price. The hog Is staple article that
! The farmer who is provided with good,
warm pens and reasonable facilities can
produce two crops of hogs each year. With
[at merehantaDie mere ant hogs he ne can turn @ them
will consume the waste product of the farm
and return money for it; in, word, the hog
Is the farmers friend, and he only requires
reasonable care to trebly recompense him
Tor every outlay of time or money. The
usual American opinion is that hogs cannot
be successfully produced outside of the
corn belt" We say American opinion be-
cause hogs have been raised in Europe and
Canada and other countries without corn
for more than a hundred years, being sue
cessfully fed and fattehed ON barley, rye
and peas. Within the past two years many
successful experiments have been had in
Northern Minnesota and North Dakota with
wheat feeding, the hogs so fed commanding
the top of the market at South st. Paul
and yielding a fraction over so per cent
: Of choice meat, which is from to per
| cent greater than results from corn feeding.
| Apparently cholera and other fatal hog dis
eases that infest the corn-fed hog never
attack the hog fed upon wheat barley or
peas.
Hogs raised in Scotland and fed upon
barley command a premium in the English
market 1t is time the belief that hogs can
not be successfully produced on other than
corn is fully exploded. The farmers of the
wheat belt have the advantage of climate
! and food with which to make hogs that will
as surely command premium over the corn
hog as No. hard is at premium over the
spring wheat of Kansas and Nebraska
How to Raise Hogs.
! There are a few cOmmon-sense things
that must be observed to make hog raising
profitable lfirst of all secure a we'll bred
hog for breeding There is as much or
more difference in the quality Of hogs as
: tong-legged, slab-sided hog is of no account
! You cannot fatten such a hog. Besides he
Is famine breeder-he eats everything
placed before him and suueals for more
ic
money In him for anybody. For our cli-
mate the Poland China is doubtless prefer
able to any other as 1t grows rapidly, is
compact and makes flesh on small rations.
besides being fairly good breeder. With
fair care it Is ready for the market in from
eight to eleven months, weighing from 200
to 26O pounds and commanding always the
highest price. The hog is sensitive to
extreme heat or cold. Therefore, reasonable
provision should be made for shade in dog
days and warm pens in winter. The hog
Is not elegant In any of his tastes, but he
will repay in hard cash for every outlay
, for his comfort and ease.
Brood Sow and Litter.
| Above all things, during pregnancy don't
kill your brood sow with kindness. What
she wants Is warm, dry pen, with
yard adjoining sufficiently large for reason
able exercise. Don't overfeed the brood
sow. Remember this, as it is all import
ant A brood sow must be fed small ra-
tions of nourishing food, but must never be
permitted to become fat. A fat SOW in
pregnancy Will not raise ~ per cent or
her young for numerous reasons not neces-
sary to detail.
If the young pigs come in the early spring
or fall 1t is absolutely necessary that the
pen shall be warm and dry, with plenty of
good bedding. BY a reasonable observance
! Of the above simple rules the farmer will
be amply repaid for his trouble and expense
In the good results that will certainly fol-
low.
Feeding.
In northern climates above the corn belt,
where corn Is not at hand for food, a rea-
sonable intelligence must be observed in
preparing the feed. In feeding wheat, wheat
screenings, barley, rye or other small grain
1t is necessary to either grind the grain
or soak 1t in water until It is sufficiently
softened to render mastication easy and
! certain. During the growing period (spring,
summer or falD the hog may, with profit,
be permitted to roam at will in the pasture,
where he will thrive splendidly on clover
or alfafa. II the pasture has never been
sown to tame grasses small ration of grain
or the skim milk or other waste food of the
farm will keep the young stock hogs in
fine growing condition until the fattening