Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1913-04-01
Hog Raising.
Iecsure BY Professor P. A. Csmpbell, fsrmern
week, Orono, Wednesday, March 6sh.)

Wednesday, March 5th, in the Animal
Industry Section, Professor CamP0eil
gave an instructive lecture on hog kais-
ing. He emphasized the necessity Tor
economic production in tho following
words: "Successful Hog Raising consists
of producing pork chesply and In getting
the greatest net returns for feed, isoot,
and capital" His lecture dealt with
methods OF raising and feeding swine.
The following is an abstract OF his aa-
dress: The cost of producing the pig
depends upon tho cost of keeping the
SOW for the year, also proportionate
part of the boar's cost OF maintenance,
this of course varying with the number
Of pigs which he 10 tho sire OF. The
cost Of both SOW and boar includes feed,
labor, and overhead charges. From this
il may be seen that SOW that produces
ONLY Ave pigs In year brings the cost OF
the pigs M to about twice what 1t would
be II she produced ten; or three times
what they would cost II she produced
fifteen. Consequently the necessity OF
selecting prolific stock, also OF handing
the SOW in such way that she will pro-
duce thrifty pigs and the saving OF the
pigs after farrowing is apparent.
It is also Just as essential that good
breeding stock be used In order to pro.
duce the right type Of pig. It 10 well
recognized fact by all stockmen that the
nearer to the birth period that . pound
of gain can be made the cheaper will be
the cost of that pound of gain. Any pig
that is kept merely for fattening pnr-
poses should be ready for market by the
time 1t is six to eight months OF age. II
is very likely that the hog dressing 4Oo
or 500 pounds-varying in age from .
year upward-owes the feeder more
than the hog will possibly sell for:
The young pig, while still SUCKING 'ts
dam, should learn to eat By having .
small trough placed in run that Pig
can easily get to. II skim milk is avail
able the feed may be mixture OF skim
milk and middlings. Bran should not
be used at any time 10 swine feeding, ex.
cept possibly with the brood SOW that
has Q tendency to take on fat. The ca.
pacity of the pigs stomach 10 limited
and the hog does not digest crude fibre
readily. Although middlings and bran
are not materially different in food nu-
trients the hog gets about twice the re-
suits from middlings that 1t does from
bran.
The pig fed supplemental feed In this
way scarcely notices the weaning period
and II the SOW is sucking good number
of pigs and they have plenty OF exercise
there will be little or no danger from
over feeding, or producing case OF
"thumps." For some time after weaving
ration of part middlings to 8 parts
skim milk 10y weight will produce salts
factory growth. II more skim milk is
available 1t may be used but care should
be exercised not to permit enough milk
to be fed to create stoppage for In such
cases too much milk Is worse than none.
As the pig develops cornmeai may grad
ually take the place of the middlings un,
til at four or Ave months Of age the meal
has entirely replaced the milk. Many
experiments have been conducted to de-
termine whether the corn ground into
meal is more efficient than whole corn.
Usually the corn meal has produced the
best results. With corn ut the price 1t
usually Ia here In Maine 1t is safe to as
sumo that 1t will always pay to grind the
corn.
No saving Is made by cooking the feed,
in fact not quito 30 good returns nave
been made. The only exception to this
is with potatoes. The hog likes cooked
potatoes better and will eat them readi-
", while he will eat only limited
amount of raw ones.
II there are no dairy by-products
available; feeding tankage may be used
to take the place OF skim mtlk. one
part of tankage to 8 or 10 parts OF meal
10y weighD usually gives as good results
as the milk. A ration made up OF corn
alone produces q very fat hog but as
corn is lacking in ash the bone does not
grow fast enough 80 but what the hog Is
frequently too heavy for bis bones and
the common expression 10 that the hog
goes "off it's feet" Barley may DO used
for fattening but does not make quite as
large gains for the pounds fed as corn,
and It is better when fed with other
feeds. Rye may be used the same %
barley. Pasture alone as Q rule does
not furnish satisfactory ration usually
supplying little more than q mainte-
nance but when used with supplement.
tai grain feed produces good results and
more economical gains than when pas.
ture is not used. One of the most econ
omioal pastures 10 rape-Dwarf Essex
rape is the variety sown. Glover makes
q good pasture. also peas and oats.
Everything considered the man who
desires to grow pork In Maine has equal
advantages with feeders In any part OF
the east.
Dairy by-producrs, pasture, potatoes,
barley, corn-all furnish part of the
hogs ration, and when converted into
pork provided manufactured form In
which they can be sold with good re-
turns.