Morris tribune., 1914-02-27


have tried to do. The first year i
was here we raised few hogs at q
loss per head. The next year we
raised more at profit: the next year
the same, and this year we raised
about $3.50 worth of hogs. During
this last year things we're so arranged
that we got good idea of what this
$3.50 worth of hogs cost US. We
bought only $25 worth of mill feed.
We estimated as close as possible that
it took about 80 acres of our landito
raise the feed for these hogs. There
were Is acres of pasture. They have
the run of a 40 acre pasture with
other stock. We sowed 8 acres. of
oats in which the pigs were turned
when the oats we're ripe. During the
month OF September we turned the hogs
into some corn with some cows and
calves. The rest of the 90 acres we
estimated furnished the food for the
carrying of the brood sows from the
LIST of September until corn came in
September of this year. This makes
a gross return of about SIS an acre,
which is very good, we consider.
where there is no expense for harvest
on seven-eights of these acres. the
hogs doing their own harvesting. 1t
wuold be an expensive wheat crop that
would produce that much. So we fell
that the hogs were raised at a nice
profit.
We raised 10 shoats. II of them
averaged 121 pounds and netted us
a little over $15 head. We consider
that it is more profitable to have the
pigs farrowed in the fall and sell them
about the first of the following De-
cember than it is to carry them
through the cold weather.
One good thing about raising hogs
is that the initial investment is not
great. We had 10 brood sows and
raised 11O shoats. The others were
used for brood sows and marketing
purposes.
Shelter need not be very expen-
sive. Up to the present year our
brood sows have been carried over
in cheap shed. In the spring we
turned out all the stock we could
and used that shed for farrowing
pens.
There is another large item that
comes in in handling lan5 in this
manner. 1t does not show as direct
credit to the hogs raised. We con-
slider that this land that has been used
in this manner is worth to US at least
$5 an sere more for the raising of
crops than as though we had marketed
a crop. The neld of oats had no labor
expended on it for hars esting; the
field of corn had no labor expended on
it for harvesting. We think we get
better results from this corn stalk
land by not blowing it. We disc it
and sow the grain in that way.
AS q matter of fact, we sold ST.
500 worth of hogs in 1913. We mar
keted these $500 worth of hogs in
nine loads. Now, where you have a
long haul, as we have, nearly ten
miles. the matter of Saving labor is
a very expensive one.
That is our experience in raising
hogs up to the first of this year, and
we consider it very profitable one.
/ would say that consider chol-
era a very serious proposition. We
have Ia brood sows left out of the
81 that we saved Perhaps had we
got to work in a little better shape
we might have had better showing
to make. / realize that to anyone
who IS depending on his hogs for his
interest and living expenses, to lose
them is serious indeed. But is it
any more serious to lose hogs than
to lose wheat or any other crop? We
do not quit raising wheat on that ac-
count. Neither do / feel that because
we have lost some hogs this year with
hog cholera that we should become
discouraged on that line. If we are
going to make business of raising
hogs, we must fight this disease and
do it the best we can And if we
fight it and secure the best know
ledge we can. We will come out
ahead.
feel that to the young man who is
today starting farming for himself,
the proposition would be to cut his
grain farming in half and devote that
other half of his time and capital to
the raising of hogs. For few hum
dred dollars he can have stock Of
hogs and turn il as quick as he can a
crop of wheat. And / fell that in a
few years anyone doing this will be
way ahead of any one who devotes his
time to raising small grain.
For the past fifteen years we have
not known as much about farming and
how to handle things TO make them
. A.- -.~-. 4