The true Democrat. [volume] (Bayou Sara [La.]) 1892-1928, 1915-10-09
THE FEEDING OF HOGS.

as the feeding problem" says E. L.
Jordan, Professor of Animal Industry,
L. S. U. "a good feeder can overcome
many natural defects in his stock, but
a poor feeder can never succeed be-
cause his stock do not have an OPP
portunity to develop as they should, no
matter how much money he may spend
in breeding stock.
"The uses of food to the animal may
be classified as follows: tissue build
ing, bone building, fat forming and
energy producing. In order to feed in
telligently, the feeder must know the
needs of the animal he is feeding and
must also know the proportions of the
different food constituents in the va
rious feed stuffs and how to combine
these to the best advantage.
Protein is the name given to the
tissue-forming food. 1t is composed of
the chemical elements carbon, hydro
gen, nitrogen, sulphur and phosphorus.
A very large percentage of the muscles,
tendons, internal organs, hide, hair,
etc., of animals is made up of protein.
1t is the basis of growth in all young
animals and hence must be supplied in
ample quantities during early life if
full size and vigor are to be attained.
Protein is present in large quantities in
milk which is the natural food for young
animals hence the obvious Importance
of furnishing the brood SOW with a
sufficient amount of protein to enable
her to produce milk for her young.
Mineral matter is essential to bone
formation and for the various secre-
tons of the body. While a great va
riety of mineral elements are neces-
sary to animal life, only four are usual
ily lacking in our feed stuffs and they
are: calcium, phosphorus, sodium and
lchlorine The last two are usually sup
piled in the form of common salt but
few of our hogs receive enough cal
cium to form strong bones during early
life. The phosphorus which, together
with calcium, constitutes the bulk of
the bony structure, is usually present
in sufficient quantities Grains and
mill by-products contain an excess of
phosphorus over calcium while the
Ilegumes such as clovers, peas, beans,
ETC., contain an excess of calcium over
phosphorus"
The small, weak bones so commonly
seen in many herds Of swine in Louis
lana are very largely due to lack of
calcium. This can be supplied at a
very low cost in the form of finely
ground raw rock phosphate, finely
ground oyster shells or bones, or by
simply keeping supply of air-slaked
lime in the drinking water. The raw
rock phosphate, oyster shells and
bones contain, not only an ample sup
ply of calcium, but they contain as
\ we'll supply of phosphorus and in
! the proportions needed.
The animal uses energy for two
general purposes, namely, for heat
production to keep the body tempera-
ture up to normal and for work both
internal digestion of food, circulation
of blood, etc., and external as for
instance in moving the body. If more
energy-producing food is fed than is
necessary the animal will usually fat.
ten, and this store of fat will be used
up during periods when there Is lack
of energy-producing food, or when in
case of the brood SOW nursing her
young, it is impossible for her to con-
sumo enough food to make good the
tremendous drain on her system. There
are two classes of food which are used
to supply energy to the animal body
and these are carbohydrates and fats
Common examples of carbohydrates
are starch and sugar. while every one
is familiar with such fats or oils as
cotton-seed oil, olive oil, lard, tallow,
butter fat, etc. Both carbohydrates
and fats contain the same chemical
elements though in different proper
tons, and both perform the same uses
to the animal. The elements present
are carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. AS
these goods contain no nitrogen, they
cannot form muscles or any of the
!, internal organs. They simply furnish
the power to operate the machine;
and the machine is composed of pro-
tein and mineral matter. 1t is as inn
possible to develop the muscular and
bony framework of pig without pro-
tein and mineral matter as it is to
build a steam engine without IRON
II. L. Jordan, Professor of Animal
Industry, L. s. U.