The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-11-17
No. Al
EXPERIENCE WITH HOGS.

6uOugu OF gram or mill TeeQ being fed
to keep him IN thrifty condition while
growing, ard then finish him off on
grain. A hog reared in this way may
not at all times please the eye so we'll
as one heavily grain fed from start to
finish, but nine times out Of ten ne will
put more net dollars and cents into the
pocketbook.
Lastyear was a year of frosts, worms,
drOughts and drawbacks. June of last
year ives a blue June, says W. s.
Stevenson in National Stockman and
Farmer. That June I had frosted
meadows and pastures, numerous
swine, 10 feed and next TO no money.
l had the blues. l soon found my
meadows would not be worth cutting.
There was not a good bit of clover in
them, SO turned the hogs in. In casting
about for feed to supplement the
grass / settled on o. oil meal 1t
cost me about $50 per ton, and looked
on it's fertilizing elements as an item
of value. made slop of the oil meal,
and those swine throve right along On
that oil meal and grass diet.
On account Of the scarcity of rough
feed I did not like to cut off corn and
throw to the hogs, and did not COM
mence to finish them eff for market as
early as usual. Tnen came the rush of
cholera hogs on the market. felt
was stuck again. When we cut eff
our corn we found for rs to 100 wagon
loads Of pumpkins. fed the hogs
pumpkins" with some corn until In
| November, then put them in warm
quarters and fed them on oil meal, mid
dIings and corn.
In January I shipped 40 head Of them
to East Liberty and received the top
of the market, $3.50 per cwt., for 81
head, the lot netting me 81 Is per cwt.
I struck one of the best markets of last
winter. By far the most profitable
part Of these hogs was what was made
on grass, Oil meal and pumpkins.
This year, in cost of production of
pork we will come nearest being able
to con1pete with the West, where they
nave corn to burn" Of any year in my
experience, Grass has been plen tiful,
soft and juicy, just right for the hogs
to crop. We have an immense crop
of fruit of all kinds, with little or no
market for it, which would have gone
to waste if it had not been for the hogs.
The woods contain an enormous amount
of acorns. Apples and acorng combined
make choice hog feed and hogs are
fattening nicely without any grain.
But il necessary we have q splendid
crop Of corn to top off with. The year
when we sell our hogs coeaply we can
console ourselves that we have grown
them cheapIy.
To a certain extent, with little fore
sight, this cheap pork production might
be duplicated every year. We should
plant suitable crops for the hogs to
harvest, Rye can be safely sown far
later than wheat. Most years much of
the corn can be husked IN time to haul
the fodder off and put the ground in
rye. IN the spring the rye will fur
nish pasture until clover ia ready to
turn into. II clover is sown early with
the rye it will be big enough to furnish
the hogs with bite by the time the
rye is ready to hog" down. The rye
stra will mulch the clover, the hogs
will fertil;z3, and the shattered rye will
grow again, and a second crop Of rye
and clover can be raised without any
additional labor; and at the same time
the land will be greatly improved.
Acrop of mammoth sweet corn comes
in good after the rye is done as hog
feed.
Ny neighbor tells me that he drilled
in sorghum seed with grain drill at
the rate Of about bushel to the acre.
The crop has proved complete sue
cess, and anyone who has tried sorghum
knows that it makes good hog feed.
Land rough and almost worthless for
other purposes can be made quite
profitable by raising on it sweet apples
for hog feed.
There are many ways by which the
production of pork can be cheapened,
and it is worth dollars to us to find it
out and improve our opportunities.
| -s@S
Botanists have divided all plants into
twenty four classes and 121 orders; and