Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1915-06-18
HoGGING-oFF VARIOUS CROPS

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Navigation Co..
IL Is we'll recognized principle
u manufacturing that to reduce the
cost of production and at the same
lme maintain the quality of the
product, means direct increase in net
profits. The wide variation found
on different farms in the cost of
pork production would indicate that
II the methods followed by the man
VINO produces pork at the least cost
were In general practice, the actual
cost would be reduced more than
one-third.
Careful investigation on many
different farms shows that the av-
erage cost OF harvesting "a crop
equals the cost of growing it ready
TO harvest. 1t has also been demon
strated by numerous experiments
that the pig can do the harvesting OF
various crops without wasting any
food material. 1t follows logically
therefore that up to the extent that
the pig can do its own harvesting
there is saving of 80 per cent on
the cost OF each pound of meat pro-
duced from an acre of ground VIII ere
the pig does the harvesting.
1t is seldom practicable to produce
DOrk AFT tho laaSt ons+ Ia, Lo,.;.,r ~,
pig harvest all of its feed, but to the
extent that the pig can do the har-
vesting satisfactorily, it is decidedly
profitable to let the pig do it. Pas
ture grass to the extent OF one-half
the daily feed is probably one of the
cheapest classes of pork-making ma
terial. Next to this, comes any OF
the cereal crops-such as rye, wheat,
barley, oats, peas or corn, to be
hogged off.
The farmer who will arrange such
a system OF cropping as will enable
him to hog off the various crops at
the light season, can very materially
lessen the cost OF pork production.
The best permanent hog pasture is a
combination of grasses and clovers,
including alfalfa. Alfalfa alone is
not satisfactory or economic hog
pasture. Winter rye will furnish the
earliest satisfactory feed for sea-
son, and if there is no permanent
grass and clover pasture, then the
rye should be supplemented by seed
ing early on we'll prepared ground,
mixture of spring grains seeded
very heavily, say 100 pounds per
acre. This may include spring
wheat, spring rye, barley, oats and
three or four pounds of sorghum,
kafir, milo maize or federetta. If
the pasture is divided into about four
separate lots, so that the pigs may
be changed to new plat each week,
which will give each plat three weeks
rest to one weeks pasturing, the
same area of land will carry salts
factorily twice the number of pigs.
The earliest annual crop with
which to supplement the pasture is
peas and oats. To grow the peas
and oats to the best advantage, ma
nure the ground in the fall, and disc,
mixing the manure we'll with the
surface soil. The ground may be
fall plowed, or plowed as early in
the spring as it is dry enough to
crumble from the mould board. Disc
or pack whit Cam pbell sub-surface
packer, and drill in the peas three
and one-half to four inches deep, 100
pounds per acre; then one week
after seed 40 pounds of oats per acre
half as deep as the peas.
Enough peas and oats should be
seeded to take care of the pigs until
the winter wheat is in the dough. If
the winter wheat then is supplement-
ed by an equal era of spring wheat,
they can ordinarily be kept on the
wheat for four or five weeks.
March farrowed pigs that have
had a light grain ration each day,
in addition to the pasture, will be
in condition to make very rapid
gains and will, in fact, make more
pounds of meat per acre from each
acre of wheat hogged off at this
time of year than they would be able
to do from the same amount Of
wheat harvested, threshed, rolled
and fed in the most approved man
ner. When the wheat has becom e
fully ripened and hardened, they
could still be allowed to get part
of their daily food from the ripe
wheat, but if this is supplemented
with green corn, the gain will be
much more rapid than it would from
the wheat alone, and the earlier vari-
cites of corn will be in the roasting
ear stage by the time me wheat has
begun to harden.