Brookings weekly register. (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1898-1903, 1903-03-12
A NEW HOG FEED.
Black Voronezsh Millet Equal to
Corn for Feeding Hogs.

corn 1or teeQlng dOgS''
After a season with frosts at both
ends, which entirely annihilates the
corn crop the farmer naturally begins
to look around for crop TO take It's
place and one which will make good
yield; one which will mature before
the late frost in August: one which
can be planted after the late frosts In
May. In North Dakota the farmers
are making success Of raising hogs
and are fattening them on different
kinds of hog millets. Among these
are the TambOf, the Red Lump and
Broom Corn millets all of which are
good but they all require grinding
and the seeds are covered with thick
tenacious hull or bran.
Four years ago Prof. N. f. Hansen,
of the Brookings College, brought from
one of the northern provinces OF Rus
sia a handful of Black Voronezch Hog
Millet which Prof. Saunders planted
on the college farm. He also planted
it again the second year and he highly
recommended it TO me as one OF the
best varieties to grow for hog feed.
He gave me handful of his first crop
which planted in my garden and its
yield under very trying circumstances
judged to be at the rate Of 80 TO go
bushels per acre. Being so we'll pleas
ed with it, last season | procured
enough seed at the college with what
l raised myself TO thinly seed ten acres
which yielded 250 bushels of seed. The
hay from which the seed was threshed
l consider equal TO timothy hay and
have saved it to feed to our horses
during springs work.
feel satisfied that this millet with
good ground and good cultivation will
yield 40 to so bushels Of seed per acre
and at the same time one 10 one and
half tons Of good hay per acre max
ing it one OF the most profitable crops
we can raise in this locality and had
every farmer in Brookings county had
one-half the acreage in Black Millet
that he had in corn last year there
would have been no small pigs sold
and shipped out of the county for
others to make money on.
Prof. James f. Shepard of the col
lege made chemical analysis Of this
Black Millet and pronounces it super
ior to corn, pound for pound, in fat
tening qualities. l made an exper,
ment In feeding Black Millet to heesa
this winter. / shut up two 80 pound
shoats and fed them on black milletI
till they weighed 200 pounds each and
so pounds Of the seed made an average
of 10 pounds Of pork.
This millet has very thin hull or
bran which think can nearly all be
removed by the thresher by running
at good high motion and setting the
concave up close which will obviate
the necessity of grinding. 1t is my
intention hereafter to plant as many
acres of Black Millet as 1 do of corn.
My method OF planting millet so as to
be sure of full crop is as follows:
Select a piece of land which will
grow a good crop Of corn, not some
land which would be good for nothing
else, then plow and harrow it early in
the spring, When weeds begin to
show go over it with the disc and then
harrow once each week thereafter till
between the Goth and 3lst of May. Sow
with drill and about three pecks Black
Millet per acre seeding quite shallow.
Cut and bind with harvester before
too ripe and set up in long shocks.
Yours for better crops,
FRANK SHERwIN,
Brookings, S. Oak