Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1917-10-09

Peanuts, velvet beans. sweet potatoes,
and chutas are growing in Importance for
fattcning hogs in the South. The animals
doing their own harvesting. Peanuts are
especially important. and il is very UNI
likely that the southern farmers will find
a more profitable method OF di>po>ing of
them than by feeding TO hogs and finishing
the hog, on other feeds 10 harden the
flesh. This latter step j. necessary he
cause a diet OF peanuts alone makes soft
pork.
SOFT PORK CAN BE HARDENED.
Soft hogs arc objected 10 for three rca-
sons. First. a piece OF soft pork l. u very
undesirable piece of meat and j. objected
10 by the consumer; second, the lard rem
dcrcd from soft bodied hogs never sets
well and i undesirable from both the
packers and the consumers standpoint /;
third, soft pork never cures a. well a.
hard pork.
Meat packers question the quality OF
the meat from hogs fed peanuts and Other
similar feeds that produce soft pork. and
they are not unrca >onablc in doing this. n
refrigeration will not harden the carcaS>cS
of hogs fed solely on feeds of this charac-
Ter. On the other hand. packers will not
believe that soft carca>ses can be- hard
cncd II fed the proper ration for u certain
length of time before killing. This atti-
iudc j. not justified. however. for there
are sufficient experimental data 1T hand
To prove that soft bodied hog can be-
made firm il they are fed the proper feeds
ar combination of feeds.
Corn alone will eventually harden soft
bodied hogs If fed during the latter part
Of The feeding period for four To eight
weeks. or n = large part of the ration
during the entire time the pigs are on feed.
However, hog~ will not grow rapidly
enough on corn alone to put on i quick
finish. and The time and feed involved in
harlcnln. the carcass makes this practice
q most expensive one. This l. true no
mittcr what the price Of corn may be. anu
Il i especially true at the present time
when corn y nigh IN pdicc.
\ ration %rumpu-cd of two third corn
and one third cotton seed meal j. an cx-
ccllcni hardening. ration II the hog are
not io be ted Tor more than II day. II
the iinishln. aud hardening period i,
longer than II days. the proportion If cot
ton seed meal should be reduced a. one
sixth of the whole ration. and the finishing
period should not extend over five weeks.
Cotton seed meal ha~ 4 POISONOUS effect
upon swine when fed IN large quantities
Tor a period al more than 20 days. II
should BE- used yer, carefully.
SWEET POTATOES.
Sweet potatoes have been fed tu hog,
with some degree vi success. particularly
III the South. They have been fed both
raw and cooked. and the hogs have also
been allowed 10 DO their own harvesting.
Numerous attempts have been made To
maintain hoc-. an sweet potatoes alone,
but. like Irish potatoes alone, this ration
has proved Improbable. Sweet poiatocs
have considerable value. however, IN q
properly balanced ration.
Because OF the expense oi harvesting
and strong sweet potatoes. "A profit real
lied fro miccding them 10 hog~ j, possible
only when the hogs are allowed 10 do their
own harvesting. II the hogs successfully
harvest the sweet potatoes. they are
doubtless 4 cheaper feed than corn on
sandy soil that Weld, from ~ to Ii times
a many bushels "f sweet potatoc- ~
corn. Although the average yield of sweet
potatoes j. les than 90 bushels per acre.
some farms raise - many a 300 bushels.
Sweet potatuc are = un~idcrcl The hest
rot crop for pig, tor tall and early winter
nr. yt.. .u ill.,. .nt .,-.ur t.t,. lru.l- - sI.