The Mena weekly star., 1909-11-11
RAISING STOCK
 FOR A PROFIT
Government Expert Talks Facts to Polk County Farmers Methods of Feeding to Make Hog
 Raising Pay.

to Mena by the United States Agricultural department were men of more than book knowledge regarding the science of farming, stock raising aud road building.
 After the crowd gathered, General R. c. Shaver was elect ed to act as chairman. and intro duced Congressman Cravens, who, among other interesting things, said that Secretary Wilson, chief of the Agricultural Department of the United States, had told him that he had travelled much and that he was fully convinced that the state of Arkansas has more natural resources than any other state in the Union. Cou- tinuiug, Mir. Cravens said he was interested in seeing these re- sources developed, and that was the object of this visit. At no point in his talk did Mir. Craveus refer to politics or his political ambitions.
 The first man Congressman Cravens introduced was w. F. Ward. Mir. Ward is a young man, uatlve of Arkansas, but now connected with the Alabama state exps 'iment station. He is stock man, especially interested and we'll informed regarding hogs. He made for his first strong statement that 1t won't do 10 keep on raising scrub stock. He did not advise buying fine pedigreed stock in quantities, but simply the improvement of stock by purchasing we'll bred male animals to head the herds. He demonstrated clearly the great loss caused by working with scrub stock. It takes twice as long, twice as much work and expense te emake 200 pound hog out of au inferior grade than from good stock.
 He told of man in Alabama who had bunch of calves from native cown that had teen bred to a Hereford bull. These calves sold at 21z years at 3Iz cents pound, and averaged $30.00 head. Another bunch of s'pure" native calves he had to hold un. til 5 years old to put them in condition and then they only averaged $21.00 a head.
 MT. Ward displayed charts showing the result of feeding hogs for profit. It was very clear that it did not pay to try to fat ten hogs on corn worth so, 60 or 70 cents a bushel, but that it would pay, and in fact there was no way to get as good money out of a crop of corn as to feed it to hogs for which green pasture of some kind has been provided. Actual experiments show that bushel of corn will make 10 pounds of pork, so that with corn at 75 cents bushel it will cost 715 cents for every pound Of fat put on hog fed on corn alone.
 On the other hand Mr. Ward explained the results of tests. which proved that where hogs had the right kind of green feed 10 go with the corn, their weight could be increased at cost as low as two cents pound.
 According to the speaker, coru actually should form only small part of the feed for hogs. On a basis of the amount of corn re- quired to put pound of fat on a hog, 1t was stated by him that hogs allowed to run On field of CIV peas and fed one pound of corn to the 100 pounds of the weight of the hog per day, they will increase equally as much as fl that field of COW peas had been in corn and had produced s bu- shels per acre, and the corn then fed to the hogs.
 Far above this, it has been de- monstrated, according to MT. Ward. that field of peanuts pro- duced per acre the equivalent in hog fattening substance of 59| bushels of corn. Soy beans equal to H4 bushels.
 MT. Ward urged the farmers of 4Hfu unrteo4< <f x~~ f5