The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-01-16
Corn Not the Only Thing

WI ii 1NOt tIIS Why
With coTn plentiful and cheap
,armers in the corr belt will not be
easily interested in any other kihu 81
feed for fattening hogs and cattle'
but az the price of corn as IT Stahds
TODAY and with the probability That II
will steadily advance in the future, II
is ONLY the part Of wisdom ana Sood
management for farmers to STUDY the
value Of other grain for feeding.
In many countries where corn can
not be raised the finest pork ana bttl
are produced from barley, other gram
and roots. In Denmark, for in
stance, where the inest bacon IN the
world is made, farmers feed theli
hogs entirely on barley.
F~rennently in this country tho price
Of barley becomes very low "nen Tue
mailing demand Is oversupplled ana
# is then tina the shreWd farmer can
supplant corr with this grain and sell
his corn To better advantage than by
feeding II.
Farmers in the northwest where
barley is grown TO a large extent are
becoming more Interested in this
grain and the Experiment Stations up
there have done some excellent work
in proving its value as compared with
corn.
An experiment begun by the North
Dakota station four years ago TO show
the value Of barley as compared with
corn for fattening hogs, has produced
some very valuable and interesting re-
suits.
A dozen cight-month-old pigs were
divided into two lots of six each. The
animals in each lot were uniform In
size. thrift and general condition. The
average weight of each lot was at
Sln. Mont ~ - Tho ~ ~ n "a IN p.a "a
ticaifv identical. l27 pounds.
Those in lot one were fed a ration
composed of -four parts ground barley
and one part of shorts by weight. The
pigs in lot two We're given four parts
Of ground corn and one part Of shorts
The pigs We're fed for a period OF
SO days, the grain being soaked ir
water and fed in the form of a thick
STOP.
The feeding yalne OF q pound OF
corn proved to be IS per cent greater
than a pound of barley. but much OF
the barley was inferior in quality and
If II would have been good, SOUND
grain, might have made a better show
Ing. The difference in price Of about
seven cents per bushel between barley
and corn must also be taken into
consideration.
The Wisconsin Station which has {
fine reputation for careful feeding In
VeSt1gatiOnS, some years ago made {
test between corn and barley and re
ported that the value OF corn was onI,
eight per cent. greater han that 0
barley. The barley was figured a
As cents a bushei, corr at SIS cents an,
shorts at $1,000 per ton. The hog
in this test sold at $500 per hundred
the barley fed hogs netting a profit o
&l.00 per hundred pounds and tn
corn fed hogs Melted $1.89.
In this test the price of barley a
t8 cents was too high as that was tn
regular price for best grade maltin
barley while the average price Q
bushel. Taking these figures it Woul
have been cheaper to feed barley an,
sell corn.
Investigations that these two sta
tons have made show that barle
makes more lean meat than corn. Q
course corn Is the greatest fattener
the world when fed to hogs. but
better grade OF bacon cen be produce
by feeding barley than corn.
When hogs are fed for weight alon
there IS no doubt that corn has tn
slightest advantage, but where baco
is produced for the best special ma,
kets barley will turn out The be,
product. The result Of the two @,
periments show:
aCQOlI ca 10 per cent MOI
barley by weight than corn to ORE
duce the same gain In feeding pik
when both grains were fed IN the DR.,
portlon or -FOUR parts OF grain 10 or
of shorts by weight.
Ihat It Is profitable to iced bari.
TO hogs II pork Is selling at an ave
age price.
That the carcasses OF the pica 2.
barley n shorts showed q great
distribution Of lean and frmer ne,
than the carcasses OF pigs fed co
and shorts.
That pigs fed on corn ana shny
VIII dress q higher per cent than nj
led on barley and shorts.