The Newtown bee., 1909-11-26
PROFITABLE SWINE RAISING IN
 CONNECTICUT.
By Joseph E, Watson. President of Connecticut Berkshire Breed-
 erg Association.
From The Connecticut; Fair Bulletin.

Live stock husbandry may be in- yestigated and discussed by any farm owner. Connecticut is "shor.." oH} hogs. The reports for 1908 show thaF there were but 47,000 of all agess. average value per head s10.50. The edible portion of 47,00G' hogs would
 hardly feed the State S population for even one days diet an pork.
 There is nopdoubt that hogs can be
 grown in Connecticut as- a profit.
 There is no bsSter markgt, no stock that the farm4r can rGhEize oB so
 quicxly at any season, gnd no raid4
 Mernan can rosS the grower in the
 sale of "buneh'' of fat hogs, The
 hog pasture isE the keynoss to protitt
 able hog raising. On a good pasture
 six or eight shoatsy weight 50 pounds [ each, can be grown to an average
 wsight of 240 pDum3s on Is bushsis'
 of shelled corHs on its eqaITalnnt of
 other grain, psn hog. Estimating the grass eaten by each hog at A5i tie farmer can compute thso acreage
 he can devote, to the hog pasture;
 based on the selling pricsn of $845D
 psr hundred, live weight. Corn and
 grass have been found to be a ha-
 lanced ration fori swine, aIs5ino grain ! is relisheu by them so we'll, It is nut < necessary to have it grounfss ear corn ] can be soaked twelve hours in water ! and fed with unsatisfactory gains s if ground and fed in a "aop," with
 much less labor cost. Hogs require pasture with water suitable to drink at all times, either piped' from a [ spring or stream. Connecticut will produce corn. This being a fact, why cannot our state grow swine at
 profit? The annual shrinkage in l the herd is exceedingly small. Hog
 cholera, it is true, has maae fearful 1 inroads, but in the corG-belt states
 few, if any, hog raaiseEs have been
 driven out of business. Hog cholera
 will surely be gotten under cantrol 1 by the United States Department of
 Animal Industry and the, sYperi,
 mental stations established in the
 several states. It would appear that the farm owner who possesses the + hardihood to raise his crop of tobaca0 from year to year would have con- fidence- enough to grow crop of hogs and see how the profits compare.
 There cam be. no detesioratian in che productivenesS of the farm from hog
 raising, and feeding up the grain
 produced thereon. Brood sows can , 1p wintared cheaply and well on g , ignt grain ration, with sorghum
 clover, hay, or alfalfa. The swine 1 raiser who is growing hogs for the
 market as pork should never use any : thing but pura-bred sire in hi: ? herd. My preference would suggest $ Berkshire. A pure bred boar ot 3 the proper type in herd will make ? a difference of at least S1 each fol i every hog fed to market weights iI g his favor over a grade boar in tht . same herd. This will illustrate wh! s the swine growers of the corn bell : states use pure bred sires. The initia value of green clover. representing : six tons per acre, is equivalent to 800 r pounds of live pork, or at the low a estimate of five cents per pound. $40 e The nutritive value of corn, produc r ing forty bushels, shelled, is repre- 2 sented in a gain in live weight O | 560 pounds. by judicious feeding, a the above estimate of five cents pei = pound, BPS. If stand of alfalf; j. can be secured which will produc'