The log cabin Democrat., 1911-06-15

The farmers of the state of Ar kansas do not raise enough hogs 10 supply home consumption, and as q result are compelled to buy meat at q price much above the cost of pCo- duction, if produced on their own farms. This can not be due to the non -adaptablility of Arkansas to hog raising. Clovers, pastures, and for age crops of various kinds grow well throughout the greater part of the state, and green stuff which is es- sential to successful hog raising may te had almost the year round. In ad- dition, various gains that make ex- cellent hog feed may be grown in plenty. Our climate is such that little expense is required in housing the animals. With the improved methods of combating the disease of hog cholera, the danger of loss from this source is not great enough to serve as an excuse for not rais, ing hogs.
 Swine raising has several points in its favor. A start may be had in the business at a small cost, and big interest is rapidly made on the in vestment With twenty-five or thirty dollars invested in one SOW it is easily possible to make two thousand pounds of pork Qive weight in year With hogs selling at seven cents per pound the yearly sales would amount to about four or five times the amount of the investment They afford a home market for much of the farm CTS produce, and consume much ma terial that would otherwise go 60 waste on the farm. The hog is an omniverous eater His ration may consist of kitchen slop, farm grains, hay, pasture, roots, fruits, nuts, meat, fish, milk, in fact almost everything. He is benefactor to the poor man and swells the bank account of the rich
 Swine and cattle farming go well together since the hogs will utilize nearly all the waste from fattenirg seef and steers, and a young shoat may get large portion of his feed
  tening of a single steer on corn. On dairy farms hogs form a valuable ad- junct in consuming the surplus skim milk, or butter milk, from the dairy.
 With the possible exception Of poultry, hogs are cheapest meat ami mals produced. The following figures are believed by the writer to be ap- plicable to this state and are given to show the cheapness of pork pro duction, when the hogs are fed a partial grain ration along with a good forage crop.
 At the Alabama Experiment Sta tion, with corn at 70 cents per bushel and COW peas valued at $S per acre, it was found that the total cost of producing 100 pounds of pork with hogs on COW pea pasture and a one quarter corn ration, was $259, with cowpea pasture and a one-half corn ration the cost was S3.36 to produce ture and a three-quarter corn ration the cost was $3.17.
 Another point in favor of swine husbandry in general is that 1t ne cessitates diversity and rotation ot crops. It gives the farmer some- thing to do the year round 1t com pels the farmer to observe market conditions, and brings him in con- tact with men, both buyer and seller, and serves to make him broader man. It increases the cash value ot the land by keeping on the farm d large percentage of the fertility that would otherwise be sold off ill the form of corn, oats and hay.
 Good brood sows will produce from six to ten pigs each litter and in our mild climate should easily produce and raise two litters each year With good pasture and forage crops, supplemented with grain feeding, pigs may be made ready for market when nine to twelve months old and at that time will weigh from 200 to 300 pounds. When properly managed. more money can be made from hogs from the meat standpoint than from any other farm animal.
 The above facts taken together with the comparatively high pre- vailing prices for hogs, indicate that one of the most profitable branches of live stock production is being over looked by the farmers of this state.