The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1912-02-16
Pork Production in the
Intermountain Country



able of all hcg feeds in almost per.
feet form; namely. alfalfa With al.
falfa, dwarf Essex rape and English
kale for forage a minimum amount of
concentrated high priced grain is re-
qured for best results. The trouble
has been, in many instances, to de-
pend altogether too much upon ab
falfa. Because it is good forage
people should not make the mistake
Of depending upon it alone for feed
to raise and fatten their hogs. The
hog is a gregarious animal and is
physiologically and anatomically
more nearly like man than any
other domestic animal. his stom-
ach, intestines and whole system
of digestion and assimilation is ak
most a counterpart of the human,
and as result he cannot thrive on
coarse, bulky or very fberous food.
1t is good rule to follow in hog
raising, In all particulars, to put your
self in the other fellows place.
Where you would thrive and wax fat,
Mr.. Hog will also think that he has
entered hog heaven, You would not
long maintain your health and
strength on such a food as alfalfa,
either green or In the form Of hay,
nor will the hog do his best. | know
that 1t is a common practice to turn
brood sows and young pigs into an
alfalfa lot and there let them range
during the most of the summer with
out additional feed. This is a very
serious mistake; at no time In his
life history can as cheap gains be
made on the hog as In the early
stages Of his life.
In an experiment conducted under
my direction at the Wisconsin Ex-
pertinent Station, a number of years
ago, it was learned that the proper
ton of food of support or mainten-
ance, to total feed in 50-pound pig
was IS per cent; with 100-pound
pig, 25 per cent; 150-pound pig, 81
per cent; and a 200-pound pig, SO per
cent. From this it will be seen that
it takes twice as much of the total
percentage of the food eaten to make
up the food of support between a so
pound pig and 200-pound pig.
Again, 1t was found that in the case
of 50-pound pig, 1t required 224.4
pounds of dry matter in feed to
produce 100 pounds of gain;
in the 150-pound pig, it re-
quired 312.2 pounds of dry matter tt
produce 100 pounds gain, and In
200-pound pig, it required 1858
pounds of dry matter to produce 100
pounds of gain. From this 1t will be
seen that the earlier in life the pig
can be induced to eat largely OF grain
the greater the returns that may be
secured from given amount of feed;
and, this is particularly true when
the grain feed can be fed in combi-
nation with alfalfa pastures. AS a
maintenance ration, alfalfa will just
about support a pig without allowing
anything additional for gain in
weight. The more grain, therefore,
that hog can be induced to eat
when on alfalfa pasture the more
rapidly the gain and the greater the
profit.
With barley, mill stuffs. wheat,
peas. rye, oats and small amount
of corn, such as can be grown in this
country, we have all of the grains
necessary for the most profitable pro-
duction of pork 1t may be said, how
ever, that these grains must be fed
in proper combination to give palata-
bility and to supply the various nut
riments and other elements in proper
proportion for growth and develop
ment without any waste. During the
winter months, roots and tubers such
as beets, mangels, turnips, carrots
and potatoes, all of which may be
readily grown in this country will be
found very valuable as supplemental
feeds to the grain ration.
In addition to this, we lave a rap
idly growing dairy industry, and the
by-products from the dairy in the
form of skim and butter milk we
have another valuable food supply
which can best be utilized when fed
to hogs.
Concerning the matter of disease
there is no large section of arabic
land in the United States that is as
free from the many diseases to which
the hog is heir as is this intermoun-
tain country. The sunshine is so
bright and strong. and the atmos-
phere is so rare that all kinds OF
germ diseases have a poor chance for
development.
| AS to the last and most important
factor, which is the demand. or the
markets, we have every evidence thaf
in this respect this section Of the
particularly favored.
The last census report Co. 1910 gave
Utah population of 379 81 neon'e
The same census gave Itch total
of 64.244 hogs, INCLUDING young pics
or trifie over one hog for every five
and one-half nersons On the average
and this would require that everv h0e
In the state would have to be slaught.
cred during the year: whereas a
large percentage of them are kent
over for breeding stock In the case
OF Idaho with a population of 3o5 794
we have hog population of 1884:
in which case. we have a little over
; one-half hoe for each person. pro
viding all We're slaughtered II can
be readily seen that these two states
do not in themselves produce nearly
enough pork for their own supply