PIG FARMING.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 122, 15 February 1908, Page 3

PIG FARMING.

A MANAWATU MAN'S METHODS. .' GROWING THE FEED AT;! HOME. . On a certain farm owned by.a;prominent Manawatu pig breeder, our - representative, in:a recent visit, .was struck by the.system-' atic growing of feed indulged' in. Prominent among other things was . a patch o fabout :tw'o acres of, vegetable marrows,. and pumpkins. The seed of; these.-'had been • planted with a double-furrow plough in rows; The crop was now almost in full profit. As the farmer walked along and pulled ' back the leaves to disclose some huge ironbarks, lie remarked: "Thero aro few farmers who know tho'-value of this crop' for fattening purposes." ' '.'How aro they sorved up?" asked the reporter. . .' '■They are mixed with wheat' or any other grain 1 may have on hand, and tho whole is .boiled together and fed out to the pigs. A ■few cows are milked on the farm; and the skim-milk is also served up, the three making, an ideal fattening food."

On the same farm, several acres-of potatoes, to bo boiled like the pumpkins, were also grown. Adjacent to these, was a crop of peas, and farther ( on a. crop, of barloy, and lastly a crop of linseed." ;"These crops," said the farmer, "represent my ideals for fattening." '■' . ■ '/ ' .

... On: the'farm, at the timo of the visit there wore, a number, of• fine pigs,.ready within a few. days to' turn .the scale at'l4olbs. Asked if he threshed the barley, tlie farmer replied thas. lie did not. He used it in limited, quantities for bedding purposes, and had found tho result highly satisfactory, as he was a firm believer .in lcccping .the pigs eating all -the timo if possible. By so doing,'he was enabled to get them more quickly into the market when the fattoning time came. Farmers -who thought'it did not pay to fatten' pigs at tho present prices were doubtless those: who fed on skim-milk alone, and'would not take the trouble to grow even an acre of hard'. feed. As to the threshing of grain for feeding,, such a course ■ was .proferable, t but not altogether necessary. For instance, peas had given very good results when dealt out:in forkfuls, for tho pigs to do their own shelling. Threshed peas wero more convenient for, boiling purpose;!, and by reducing the exertion, of tno.pigs, tended to get them' off the owner's hands quickly. Against this would- have. to be ; considered the cost- of threshing... ' .. . - -.. '