Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-06-05
Raising Hogs on Pasture Crops in
GpnrUia

OtUI
we probably send as much money
out of the state for red meat as
for any other purpose. Our eXpen.
dltures for pork products either in
fresh, or cured state are very
large. If we can save the money
spent for this purpose during the
ensuing year, we could add 500 to
the income of every farm we now
nave in Georgia, or a gross of $780,
100000 on the years operations. But
that is not all, for it should be a
comparatively simple matter to raise
and sell from each of these farms
1900 worth of hogs, thereby making
our gain not $50, 900 900, but $50, 000.-
600 or $500 per farm. When a state.
ment of this kind is encountered, it
seems so simple that every one ma.
turally says, why do we not do
this thing?" The reply is, THE
fetch of all-cotton." The habits and
manner of thought and the plan of
procedure handed down to us by our
forbears are all matters of great
er significance than we may be will
ing to admit They chain and fet-
ter us to a plan of action that may
become wholly undesirable, but
which we find it exceedingly difficult
10 break away from. Economic
pressure, however, is gradually fore
ing us to give consideration to mat
,ters of this kind, and so. while the
progress of our swine industries may
be relatively slow for sometime to
come in the future. it will be none
pc less certain.
In the old days, cotton could be
ede on some sort of a basis and
nth a high degree of assurance that
fair crop would be harvested even
IN an unfavorable season. But the
boil weevil has changed all that and
made cotton an uncertain crop to
raise except where the highest meas
IRE of skill and intelligence is put
into its management and cultivation
Thus, cotton became a relatively
harder crop to grow and swine rails
ing a relatively more. lucrative ard
certain type of activity in which to
engage than it has hitherto been in
the years that have passed.
What must we do in oiNder to pro-
vide 200 pounds of surplus pork prod
ucts per farm in Georgia? Simply
keep two good brood sows and feed
and care for them properly. They
may or may not be pdrebreds On
the average farm, it is probably iIsc
as well that they should be high
grade animals. Certainly, they
should be selected from a breed Ct
uEcIestioned adaptability to the
state and noted for i, prolificacy
and the rapidity and dse with which
the yong pigs may Hes grown out
into finished condition. The initial
cost of two brood sows can be pro-
FV1ded for on any farm where there
is the will to have them. 1t will not
take the passage of any agricultural
end. So a beginning can be made
In those instances where the desire
is predicated on a proper basis. Of
course one might obtain two brood
soWs and fail altogether in the hog
business. Animals of this kind can
never be expected to wax fat, far
row large number of healthy pigs,
and grow them out, unless they are
properly fed and cared for.
In order that this end may be
obtained, what must the landowner
undertake to do? First of ALL he
should set aside five acres of land
Choose an area adjacent to a shady
wood lot. If the trees will furnish
some desirable mast in the fall, it
is an additional advantage. They
should be spaced far enough to per-
NIT of the growth of an abundance
of grass. A Bermuda sod is a valu-
able adjunct on any farm where hogs
are raised 1t furnishes more food
than one might suspect. The root
ing the hogs may do helps rather
than harms the density of the stand
1t makes a dense, tough coVerage
over the soil. 1t is not hurt by
tramping. 1t grows well when the
weather is hot and dry, and it COM
Dimes we'll with Lespedeza in the
summer, and hairy vetch, or Burr
clover in the winter. Thus, it is of
service and benefit to the hog raisers
throughout the entire year.
The five acres of land mentioned
above should be divided into areas
OF equal size and planted to crops
that will furnish food throughout
the year. In Georgia, it is posi-
BILE to have something green on
which hogs can be grazed with more
or less advantage for twelve months
in the year Personally, [ would
feel that wherever alfalfa can be
grown, at least one-half acre of the
soil selected should be laid down
to this crop. 1t furnishes an abun-
dance of wholly desirable grazing
at several periods of the year. If
this crop is not over grazed, it has
not only a great carrying capacity
for hogs, but will continue to prove
serviceable as a pasture for several
years without going to the neces-
- sity or expense of reseeding. One
Rcre of land should be devoted to
Pm and soybeans. Half of the
H. may be planted early in the
Son and the other half relative
" late This will extend the graz
ing period for this crop by about
thirty days. In other words, feed
Of this character may be available
for nearly sixty days! A combina-
ton of corn and soybeans makes a
better grazing crop than the use Of
either one. of these crops separately.
There should be an area in sweet
potatoes: while cowpeas, sorghum
and kaffir corn may all he made to
add their quota of desirable and sue
culent feed at different periods dur
Ine the SINNER months I'm the late