The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1911-10-05

H0Gcc,.NG eff CoIiJ.
BY D. A. Gaunaitz, Assistant
Professor Of Animal rus
bandry, Minn. Eer. CoilcSe.
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ture early. This fall, therefore, VIII
be especially suitable for feeding corn
Off in the field. Ordinarily the seascG
for "hogging off, corn does not open
until Sept. 1 to 10, and it usually cor
tinues until Nov. to Is. To secure
the full benefit of the plan, it is neces.
sary that all fencing should be done
early.
The general plan is to husk or sncp
the corn and feed it in the yards or
pastures. Considerable labor is at
tached to this, and at season OF the
year when there is much to do in the
way of blowing, threshing and other
operations. To obviate this, the ''hcg-
ging' plan was tried out, and found
to be very much more desirable
Experiments proved that it tock
from one-half to one-and-a-quarter
pounds less of feed to make a pound
OF pork when the pigs were put in
the field than where the corn wcs
gathered and carried to the pigs. Il
was also found that the pigs gained SO
to 80 per cent more rapidly in the
field than in the yard
Frequently farmers ask the cues
ton, Does it not cost as much to
fence as it does to husk an acre Of
corn?' On the average farm it costs
S351 to pick and haul into the yards
an acre of corn. 1t costs from $3.50
to $3.50 per acre, depending on the
size of the field, to fence an acre Of
corn. The saving effected by "hcg-
ging' is plain.
Another question is that of loss OF
fodder. Experiments show that a dol
lar expended in capital and labor, for
the production of hay or fodder corn,
will return SLIP worth of nutrients.
while 81 expended in saving corn
slower will return S1.19 worth of nut
trients, proving that it is much cheap
er to grow codder-corn or hay than to
attempt to save the slower
Considered from any standpoint. it
seems good business policy to hog Off
corn in preference to feeding it in the
yard. But the fact that it is a good
practice does not justify one in over
working this idea. Only as much corn
should be hogged off as can be cleaned
up before snow tlies. In Minnesota.
this usually takes place somewhere
between Nov. l and Dec Is; and one
should aim to hog off only as mucl
as his hogs will clean up by Nov Is
at the latest. After that date, the
corn had better be snapped or husEe
and fed to the pigs in the yard. /
they are not already finished; or the
pigs may be given access to the CO.
in the bundles and the cattle turns
in afterwards to eat up the fodder
1t is not difficult to fence hes
a cornfield; but it is difficult to fence
them out. 1t has been found thar A.
fence made with posts a rod and
half apart, and a 26-inch ribbon of
woven wire, will keep pigs in at the
beginning. If the pigs are unruly, a
barbed wire should be placed below
and above. The entire field to he
hogged off should be fenced. If one
finds it necessary to confine the hoqe
to a portion CT the field, tbs c1a .
separated by running a ribbon of
woven wire fence across the fieli.
weaving it into the corn-stalks in the
row, and fastening the ends. When
the corn is eaten in the first division,
the fence can be moved down the line.
This does away with posts.
The best-sized hogs for turnfry
into the cornfeld are those weighing
at least 125 pounds. Old hogs that
have eaten corn out of the stalk. usu-
ally will tackle the corn, breaking it
down at first. 1t takes some pigs a
few days to learn where the corn is.
1t is therefore advisable sometimes to
have an old hog with the young ones,
to start them
From data at hand, three and ora-
half to four hogs will clean up an
acre of corn, where the yield is about
thirty bushels per acre. Five hogs
VIII clean up an acre where the yield
is forty bushels; and it would require
six hogs per acre where the yield
about fifty bushels With this as
basis, it is easy to estimate the
amount of corn which should be en-
closed for the hogs on hand.
On most farms where hogging corn
is practiced, the hogs receive little
attention after they are turned into
the cornfield This is great mis-
take. 1t has been found, from actual
trial at University Farm, that pigs
should be fed eth r milk or shorts,
or some other Mir enous feed, daily
while in the cornf ED The practice
has been to feed from one-half to cn2
pound of shorts per hundred-weig
of pigs daily or, if the shorts are not
to be had, four to six pounds of skim
milk may be fed in their place.
While in the cornfield, the pics
should have access to plenty of water
Also, it is a good practice to mix q
little salt with charcoal, bone-meai
and ground rock phosphate, and place
It in a box to which the hogs can have
free access at all times.
In the early fall, when the ground
is warm, shelter is not so essential
but the pigs will appreciate a goot
bed even then. Later in the fall, when
the cold rains come and the nights