Vernon Parish Democrat. (Leesville, La.) 1917-193?, 1919-08-09
THE SCIENCE OF FARMING
By w. A. Dodgherty, U. S D.

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/. The cropping system for sue
cessful hog and seed farm followed for
several years past is as follows. Corn
and Soy Beans; (2) Corn; ~ Oats;
(4) Clover.
2. Eighty acres Of land in four e.
quail fields are devoted to this rotation.
The soy beans are cut for hay, which
is fed to the hogs in the winter. The
clover is used for hog pasture. The
oats are used as feed for the work
stock and hogs. What hay is needed
is bought. Not much is needed, how
ever. in addition to the soy bean hay,
corn slower, and sheaf corn oats or oat
straw produced on the farm. Last
year $50 bushels of seed corn were
sold at an average price of $L62 per
bu. The remainder of the crop is fed,
any deficience being made up by pur-
chase. This system has been in vogue
without essential change for ten years
Adjacent land, poorly managed, pro-
duces probably IS bu. of corn per acre.
During the past four years, the average
yield of corn on this farm has been
80 Us bushels per acre.
3. Fifteen brood sows are kept.
These are well bred Duroc-Jerseys, a
breed especially adapted to the pro-
duction of large, late-maturing hogs.
These sows farrow once year, early
in April. or after danger Of severe win
ter weather is past. They raise eight
pigs to the litter on the average. In
spring the 20-acre clover field is d.
vided into two parts by means of a
temporary wire fence 80 inches high.
One part contains twelve acres and the
other s. One hundred and twenty
yearling hogs, weighing about 200
pounds each. are placed in the l2-acre
Enclosure in early spring and remain
until they are sent to market about
Aug. to Aug. 10. The IS sows and
I20 pigs are turned into the 8-acre di-
vision, where they will remain until the
large hogs on the l2-acre division are
marketed, when they are allowed the
run of the whole 20 acres.
4. At first, SOW and her litter re-
ceives 3 pounds of corn day. Some
times little oats is substituted for
part of the corn. The amount of the
corn or grain is gradually increased
until by fall each SOW and litter re-
ceives about 7 pounds day. The
sows are allowed to wean the pigs of
their own accord. At one side of the
field pen is constructed in such a
manner as to admit the pigs but not
the sows, and the pigs may thus be fed
separately so as to insure their getting
a proper share of the feed. By the end
of the summer the pigs weigh about
100 to Us pounds each, most of this
gain being due to clover.
5. The brood sows are fed in win
ter about 4 pounds day of mixed
grains. Last winter this consisted OF
ground rye, shorts, oil meal, and corn
In the absence of rye, bran is used
They are also fed clover hay, small
crop Of which is cut from the clover
pastures. This amount of feed keeps
them in thrifty condition, but does no
fatten them. The pigs in winter are
fed soy bean hay and an average o.
about 5 pounds of grain per head pc
day. During a portion of the tim'
this grain consists of mixture of abou
3H lbs. of corn, "a pound of shorts
and "a pound of oil meal per day pc
head. The amount fed is less in early
winter and gradually increases as tn,
pigs increase in size. By spring. thes,
pigs will weigh about 200 to ~
pounds each.