Hutchinson gazette., 1901-06-20

Natural Fosdiae


rnent OF tho paper that in Canada
where hogs are fed upon the principle
Of developing tho franc hrst and then
fattening with starchy foods. that little
trouble is experienced from such dis
eases as cholera. and We maintain that
there would be less OF the trouble and
moro healthy hogs generally in our
own country with larger and stronger
litters OF pigs II the swine were fed
more naturally. AS an illustration OF
the kind OF feeding we mean II may
be mentioned that the Yorkshire pigs
which took the sweepstakes award at
the provincial show at London, Can
ada last year were allowed to suckle
their dam for two months, were then
weaned and fed wheat middlings and
skim milk four times daily until three
months old, A small amount Of barley
and corn was added as they grew older.
After three months of age their food
consisted largely of green clover and
later Of green corn and rape, For six
weeks before beginning the finishing
period they we're allowed to run in
small feld OF artlchokes, which they
dug for themselves, besides receiving
a small quantity Of whole corn scat
tered broadcast, This system which
won for the show would surely provo
Just rs effective and economical for tho
production of pork. To be sure II
would not produce very fat swine and
they would not be Of the lard variety,
but they could not fail to have strong
frames and the choicest Of meat while
healthy and in growing condition A
frame built up In this way Is the ono
that will best lay on the rat produced
by heavy feeding of corn and will
Withstand the ravages of cholera, or
rather ward attacks off by strength OF
constitution and purity OF blood. In
this connection we desire to say n few
words In answer to correspondent
who desires to have our opinion on the
I subject Of cooking food for swine and
asks II II Ia not common practice to
cook the food given to swine for ex-
hibitlon purposes. II will be seen that
these Canadian hogs did not receive
cooked food and we do not believe that
there Is any necessity Of cooking the
food Of young swine that are growing;
in fact, we would consider the prac.
tice foolish and wasteful Of time and
food nutrients For final finishing
cooking Is correct practice II such food
as potatoes are used, for II has been
shown by experimentation and indeed
on our tables that the starchy mate
rias OF the potato are brought out by
boiling and rendering palatable and
perfect while the raw potatoes are OF
little use for fRttenlng, heterogeneous
foods on the other hand suffer when
boiled. Peas, for instance, are said
to lose 25 per cont OF their nitrogen
GUS principle when boiled and the same
ls true in less degree of boiled barley
and other grains containing large
quantities of protein. It should be re-
membered that boiling coagulates albu-
men (nltrogenous matter or protein),
thus rendering II less easy Of assimila-
ton, but on the other hand 1t Is bene-
fetal to starchy foods In that 1t rup-
lures the starch cells Cellular coating
OF tho starch grains) thus allowing tho
digestive fluid of the stomach to OPP
crate more perfectly. From this fact
It will be seen that sensible feeding
Ideas should teach tho use OF natural
feeding for young growing pigs, such
IS that followed In Canada in the pro-
tuctioh Of the winning YqrkshiresI
while the cooking Of food should Se Ss.
applied, IF at all, to the fattehlng Pc
rlod only and to such foods as are In
cluded in lne list of carbohydrates,
There are exceptions to this rule, how
ever, in the case of sick animals,
which sometimes do best upon scalded
food, such as bran, oilmeal etc, and
the same Is true Of the newly weaned
pig In cold weather, which Sometimes
needs and thrives best upon scalded
food. On general principles, however,
in our opinion there Is no economy or
profit In cooking the food for young
growing animals; 1t does, however,
help to make tho carbohydrate food
Of fattening animals more easily as
simulated in some instances, as where
potatoes are used for fattenlng. -,