The Palatka news and advertiser., 1917-09-21
FATTEN EARLY Pigs.
First Fall Markets Are the
Highest Pastures ana
Grain Forages Give
Economical Re-
suits.

Pigs WHICH NSAS a.,
o.d are about six months old at this
time may proftably be finished no"
nd rushed off to market, says tue
United States Department OF AYR
culture. Tie early fall market mas
Secn the highest market for a nun,
her of years, because the number OF
Weu- finished hogs arriving at thiS
season is limited. .,, .a
PIGS may be fattened quickly ana
cheaply on nutritious pasture Wheh
supplemented by full gram ratloh;
After deducting the pork which WouIu
have heen produced by the same
amount of grain fed in dry lot, every
acre of these pastures produces from
three to six hundred pounds OF pork
The full fattening power OF the gram am
is realized as well as proht on 1he
pasture consumed.
Pastures to Use.
In the corn belt and Eastern States
alfaif -. clover, and rape give pest
results. Pigs should be continued IN
these feeds until fat, usually for a pc
riod of six weeks at least. Altalla
and clover may be pastured as long
as forage is required, and they Will
produce the largest gains due to pas
ture. An acre of alfalfa furnishes
pasture for fourteen to sixteen loo-
pound hogs during this short tatten-
ing season, while clover will carry
from three to four hogs less per acre.
Rape is an excellent forage, and al
though it does not produce as much
nork per acre as the two legumes
previously mentioned, it returns very
good profits for the t.ouble ana eX-
pense of planting the crop 1t affords
nasture for a period of Our to six
weeks for ten to twelve 15O-pound
hogs per acre.
Methods of Feeding.
If the pigs are hand fed it will ray
70 90 slow the first week and gradu-
alIv get them on full feed. After
thev are accustomed to the method OF
feeding. they may be pushed along
as rapidly as possible without much
danger from loss of appetite. Even
on leguminous pasture some protein
supplement. such as tankage. should
he fed with the grain in the proper,
ton of one part of tankage to ten OF
fifteen parts of grain. A dailv re-
ton equal to per cent or 4.5 PEI
cent of the live weight isthe maximum
amount of grain that a pig will CON
sumo.
The self-feeding method is a very
, efficient system of feeding during thi!
reriod. and produces results equal to
or better than, those obtained by hant
p feeding. Grain is consumed more
rapidIv a~d economically. CAUSING tn
: pig to attain a marketable weight il
shorter time and with a smalle
r amount of grain.
n Fattening Pigs in the South.
BY the use of several Of the sum
c mer forage crops of the South pig
n can be grown cheaply and come to tn
e fatteaing period growthy, health
e shotes, ready to make rapid and eco
S nomical gains upon rich food.
! For fattening at this early seasO
!, use should be made of the grain-pas
h ture crops. soy beans, and cOWpea!
! and Of early sOwn sweet potatoe!
IS These crops will fatten hogs Quickl
+. and require only small amount c
II grain to give good results
IS On fairly rich soil, SOW beans wi
Vt produce more feed than the other fol
IS ages. Each acre will afford pastul
ID for ten l5O-pound shotes for six
ID seven weeks. In order to insul
l. against the production of an inferiC
J. soft pork, a one-third corn ratio
le9 should he fed in connection with t
ID soy-bean pasture, especially durin
l. the latter part Of the fGttening pero
le and when such system is followt
+ each acre of soy beans will produ
from four to seven hundred pOunt
, of pork.
IS Cowpeas succeed better on po
soils than do soy beans, but the
% value as a pork producing crop
much less. Fully twice as mu,
ru grain must be fed with cowpea pa
RS ture as was recommended in the ca
al of soy beans in order to obtain equs
% ly rapid and heavy gains. When
- one-third grain ration is fed in co
VI nection with cowpeas forage one ac
A. will carry eight 150-pound shot
re from four to five weeks, and the por
a. producing power will be correspon
do ingly reduced under that estimat
Wv w for soy beans.
ag The southern farmer is famili
with the culture of sweet potato,