The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1919-05-21
District of Columbia Starts
One and Expects to Feed
$4,000 Hogs !. Is
MOST NEW ENGLAND
CITIES HAVE THEM
Circulated That Waste from II Persons
Will Raise One Hog-One Hundred
Pounds of Garbage Will Produce SO
Cents Worth of Pork at $40 per Cwt

ROUNDS OF GaTDaSe Will PTouuCe 30
Cents Worth of Pork at $40 per Cwt.
WASHINGTON, May 2l-The capital
which aspires to be model for all other
Aemrican cities, has gone in for hog-rais
ing Instead of paying out many thous
ands of dollars every year for the collec
ton Of garbage which is thrown away or
sold for trifle, the district government
will try the experiment of converting its
garbage into pork on its own farm.
The plan did not originate here. 1t isl
being carried out with success in mum
Der of New England citfes, and in a few
other parts of the country 1t is hoped
that the capital piggery will attract the
attention of cities all over the United
States, so that the conversion Of garbage
into pork as a municipal enterprise wall
become general. 1t is said that the food
wasted by II persons will fatten a pig.
You know the population. A little over
half of it lives in cities Do the arlth-
metic for yourselves.
The commissioners of the District OF
Columbia have already purchased several
hundred feeder pigs. The experiment will
continue for three or four months, and
| if at the end of that period it has proved
| successful the district will embark IN the
hog-raising business on as large a scale
as the collection of garbage win permit.
| 1t is estimated that sufficient garbage Is
collected in the national capital daily to
feed at least 1900 hogs
4 Mass G9s bpa-, fppfiiaU :
garbage to hogs for many years, and was
one Of the first towns in the country to
adopt Che method Il has been success
I luI Worcester raises an average Of about
| 800 hogs yearly on its 700-acre farm
All through New England, municipal
| hog-raising is in vogue. with Massachu
sctts leading all other states in the indus
| try. Boston is the only city Of impor
| lance in that state that has not adopted
| the plan. Raising hogs on garbage is also
successfully practiced in ST. Paul, Kan
sas City. Omaha. Topeka, Leavenworth
Denver, Philadelphia and Baltimore.
In Baltimore the city collects the gar
bage and sells it to "a contracterdwho is
! engaged in hog,raising. The contractor
pays the city for the garbage at a rate
| based upon the market price of hogs. HI
pays a price per ton equal to 313 time'
the market price per pound of pork
1t is. estimated that more than 00,00
hogs were fed on the garbage collected a
the various environments during the war
Private individuals got the garbage "con
cessions," and in this way thousands o
tons of garbage which would otherwis
have been wasted was put to good us
in fattening hogs for market.
The department Of agriculture is great
| ~ interested in the municipal hog-raisin
idea and is making careful study of
i'm the cities where it has been success
| fully worked out The whole idea is nc'
| in many respects, and the department
plans to get out a bulletin on this subject
| after completing its investigation, as
| guide to cities and towns that plan TO CT
| bark in the business The bulletin vi
| be of much aid to beginners in avoic
| ing the mistakes made by pioneers
| this business
| A city desiring to start in the hog-rai
| ing business can get the cooperation
/ the department An expert will be fu
| nished to help select the hogs, and t
/ direct the feeding and care of them unit
| the municipality is started properly.
| In the investigation of feeding garbaG
to hogs, the department unearthed tt
| interesting fact that during the war,
| towns and cities all over the countr,
! the garbage can lost weight as a resu
: Of the nationwide food saving campaign
In many towns, the quantity Of garbae
was cut in half, and in the language
r the garbageman the garbage lacked qua
d ity"
y An interesting experiment was conduc
ed some time ago by the animal husban
: ~ department Of the Iowa agricultur
d college in the feeding Of garbage to hog
:, These piqs were fed on garbage fro
a Y. NJ G. A cafeteria and +
+ suits were carefully recorded Du
/, ing the first 20 days, eight pigs avera
ing 81 pounds each. at the start. game