Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1917-11-21
low WE HAVE MADE PROFITABLE
FORA WITHOUT CORN.
(By Burlie Dobson.)


The problem Of pork production
without corn seems to present itself
more strongly to us in Wisconsin at
this time than ever before. Our sup
ply OF old corn held in reserve from
last years crop is about exhausted,
and the new crop in our state is prac-
tically a failure for storage in the
criD. We are Obliged to depend upon
other grains and feeds for finishing
our hogs tor the market.
Too many OF our Wisconsin pork
raisers labor under the impression
that it is Improbable, in fact almost
impossible, to produce pork without
the use of corn. However, some Of us
who have tried out our various other
small grains, together with good pas
lures of rape, clover and alfalfa, have
proven that we can anu do produce a
nne quality Of pork at profit with
no corn being used at all.
In all parts Of our state, oats, wheat,
barley rye and peas are grown sue
cessfully and these together with
those great by-prOducts of our Wis
cOnsin dairy farms, skim milk and
butter milk, provide ratiOns from
which pork can be grown as rapidly
rs when corn is used. For the past
ten years the writer has grown pigs
to very heavy weight for their age
without the use of any corn. We of
course have we'll bred pigs to begin
with; that show disposition to give
us results for what they eat. It does
not pay to begin with any other kind
Oh pig.
We SOW oats, wheat and barley to-
gether, equal parts by weight. Some
times we add peck of peas to each
hundred pounds Of the foregoing mix
ture. This we harvest and threSh and
then grind for the pigs, adding to it
six to ten pounds of oil meal per one
hundred pounds Of the ground grains.
] This we feed to the pigs in the form
of a good, thick slop. In cold weather
we feed it warm.
If we find that we will have to buy
some feed we get good middlings and
add about One-third part OF this to
the home grown mixture. Ii we have
rye, it is also added to the mixed
grains before grinding. The rye
should not constitute more than one
fourth to one-third of the ration.
/ This ration we begin to feed to our
/ pigs as soon as they will eat from the
j trough and continue to feed to them
until they are ready for the market
! We always feed our young pigs three
or four times a day until they are five
months old From that age to eight
months old we feed some soaked bar
] ley in the troughs, and crowd the pigs
with all they will eat.
We always keep soft coal and salt
in self feeders where the pigs have
/ access at all times and also keep plenty
Of fresh clean water before them. We
make it regular practice to treat
our pigs for worms, as no one can
produce pork profitably with any kind
Of feed if the pigs are bothered with
worms.
The foregoing is our method of'feed-
ing pigs for the market at Sunrise
i Stock farm, and it is a good way toe
to feed both the sOws and boars fol-
breeding purposes. We Go not use
and do not believe in the use Of sell
feeders until the pigs are at least five
months old Even after that we dc
not see any particular benefit in their
USE for the feeder should see his pigs
often.
In conclusion | want only to empha-
size that pork can and at this time
should be produced on the grains We
can and do produce on our Wisconsin
farms. It can be done profitably