Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1906-12-01
LET THE PIGS
HUSK THE CORN
:HO0GING CORN EXPERIMENTS
AT STATE FARM SCHOOL.
Testing the plan of Turning Pigs
Loose I'm COrnfieid-Saves Cost
OF Hired Help and Has Other Ad-
vantages-Bulietin VIII be Is
sued.

A bulletin on swine feeding, which
will be of immense interest to Mime
sofa farmers and in fact to all agri-
cultural communities is in course of
preparation by Professors A. D.
Gaumnitz and D. A. Wilson of the
agricultural college at st. Anthony
Park. An exhaustive exposition of
the new system of feeding swine,
known as ''hogging corn" which has
been the subject of experiments at the
state farm for over two years, will be
made in the publication. The new
system is expected to add materially
to the farmers profits.
"Hogging corn simply means that
pigs are turned into field of corn,
properly enclosed in hog proof
fence where they are allowed to eat
the corn from the stalk, root around
in the earth, finding other foods, thus
saving the expense of employing labor
TO husk the corn and also the cost of
transporting and storing it. Other
state agricultural stations have studied
the system, but apparently have
abandoned the idea without carrying
the tests to successful conclusion.
For the last two years, however, ex-
periments along this line have been
made at the experiment farm and the
results obtained have been so crafty
ing that the department of animal
husbandry has decided to publish an
exact account of the actual results.
Apparently the only objection offer
ed to the system is that it necessitates
turning the hogs into the field, a
practice that is considered slovenly
by many farmers. The direct inan-
cial economy as well as the benefit to
the soil, however, seems to Offset the
objection. Some farmers have tried
the experiment and although the re-
susts attained were entirely satisfac-
tory, most of them have abandoned
the practice on the ground that it is
slovenly. It may be added that no
systematic observations Or data were
taken, so the actual economy involv-
ed was not apparent. The scheme of
hogging corn as investigated by Prof.
Gaumnitz has been developed along
with experiments in the rotation Of
crops conducted by Prof Wilson.
The chief points of economy claim
ed for the new system is that the ex-
pense of labor incident to harvesting
the corn is reduced where the annual
yield is large, while the ground is fer
tilted and stirred up by the roofing
of the hogs. 1t is explained further
that by allowing the swine to run free
in the field they fatten quicker than
in Yards. One of the main benefits
TO the farmer, however, is that it per-
mits him to realize profits regardless
whether he can secure labor Or not.
The question of getting farm hands at
harvest time has grown to serious
proportions of late and it is for that
reason that some means, such as hog
ging corn, must be found to realize on
farm products without the assistance
of hired help.
According to the experiments at
the agricultural school, the cost of
erecting a suitable fence around the
corn field is offset by the saving in
labor. The figures of the authors of
the bulletin have been based on farms
Welding but thirty five bushels to the
acre. whereas many farms throughout
the state produce much more. 1t is
also shown that where a rotation of