The enterprise-recorder. (Madison, Fla.) 1908-1933, 1910-08-25
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HOW TO MAKE A BALANCED
q RATION FOR The HOGS

In a preceding article the writer
tried to show that pork cannot be
made profitably in the South when
nothing but corn is used. Corn alone
was seen to be very poor feed FOL,
the ANIMAL it makes very slow gains
and very high priced ones. When
corn alone is fed 1t is seldom that
more than one-half pound daily gain
can be secured. When some other
feed is used along with the corn it is
no trouble to secure one pound daily
gain and more.
Well, IL corn cannot be used at
profit when used alone, what is the
farmer to do? Must he stop trying
to make pork and buy it at from
fourteen to twenty-five cents
pound? No, he will not have to stop
making it. The only thing he will
have to do will be to use something
along with the corn. Corn alone is
about as poor q feed as can be found
for hog; but corn used in combina-
ton with other feeds is about the
best feed that exists. One thing the
farmer can do is to use other concen-
trated feeds; the South has an
abundance of them. The only thing
against them from the farmers
standpoint of view when he comes to
feeding hogs, is that they are all
high-priced. Notwithstanding the
fact That they are all high-priced,
almost any OF them can be used along
with corn and cheaper the ration
very materially.
A few years ago cowpeas were
cheap and many farmers began to
use them literally as 4 feed for hogs.
But recently they have advanced in
price and, If they are to be used at all
now, they must be used as all high
priced feeds are used--with care and
intelligence. When they are valued
at $3.50 a bushel they cannot make
up one-half Of the total ration.
Some Of the stations have had ex-
perience in feeding soy bean meal to
hogs. 1t has proven to be more val
liable than the cowpeas, not so much
probably because of being actually a
better feed than the cowpeas, as to
the fact that the soy bean meal has
been used in smaller amounts than
the cowpeas. The soy beans are
richer feed than the cowpeas, so the
feeders have not tried to use them
In large amounts. In a test at Kan
sas, where corn alone was compared
to a ration made up of two-thirds
corn plus one-third soy bean meal,
the soy beans proved to be worth
S1.44 a bushel. In Indiana, where
the same kind Of test was made, the
soy beans returned value of $2.54
bushel, or, it cost s6.96 to make one
hundred pounds Of pork when corn
alone was used, and but $5.1S to
make the same pork when one-third
of the ration was composed of soy
bean meal.
In some sections Of the South rice
by-products can be used either to
take the place of corn or to go along
with it. Where rice polish has been
compared directly with corp 1t has
proven to be superior to the corn,
pound for pound. 1t is cheaper than
corn, pound for pound, too. In Ala
bama, where the two were compared,
{74 pounds of corn were required to
make a hundred pounds Of meat,
while but 373 pounds of the rice
polish were required to make the
same gains. In South Carolina the
rce polish and corn were compared
when skim milk was fed along with
each one. The rice meal proved to
be superior to the corn, as but s4S
pounds OF the rice meal and 991
pounds skim milk we're required t.
make one hundred pounds gain, while
257 pounds of corn and 1923 pounds
of skim milk were used to make the
same number of pounds of pork. At
Massachusetts the corn and the rice
meal proved to be practically equal
in feeding value.
Alabama Station has tried rice
bran, but it is not a good feed for
hogs. 1t is too bulky and not pal
atable.
The packing house by-products
have not generally been introduced
to the South. But there is at least
one of the products that should be
used here, and that is tankage. AS
a result of its use along with corn,
pork will be made cheaper and the
vsue OF the corn will be increased.
1t can be laid down in the South al