Labour-Saving Crops for Pigs

Northland Age, Volume IX, Issue 47, 19 March 1940, Page 2

Labour-Saving Crops for Pigs

(By E. B. Glanville, Local Organiser Whangarei Council of Primary Production.) '

One of the reasons given by farmers for failing to grow crops is that there is too much labour involved in the process of growing them and feeding them out. As with any other farm practice there is, of necessity, labour required to plough and cultivate the land and inter-cultivate the crops. If success is to be achieved, such work must be thoroughly carried out, but for pigs many crops requ re very little labour in the feeding out. In order to prepare for the growing of these crops next season, faimers should now consider which crops are suitable for their conditions. In the warmer districts, such as Nir h Auckland, maize may be readily grown. It is usually not harvested till May or June. Maize is normally fed in the cob to pigs. The cobs aie often soaked before feeding for about /Three to four days in the winter and for 36 hours in the summer. Maize if being fed in large quantities should be supplemented with a protein-rich food such as meat meal. Artichokes may be sown in September and fed off in April. The pigs r.re turned in on the crop and harvest it themselves. It is advisable to take out sufficient large tubers for r.planting before the pigs are tui --d in. These are replanted after the pigs come off. The crop will la<t several years, provided a certain fu - gus disease is not bad. Gucrcnde carrots require less labour then other varieties. If lllbs. of seed are sown in rows 21 to 26 inches apart, no thinning is required, though inter-cultivation must not je neglected. The pigs may be turned in on the crop when it is ready, or it may be fed out. Chou mocllier, the least susceptible of cruciferous crops to disease, may be f.d eff by the pigs in breaks, or. if desired it may be carted to th* pens. Mang-ls, sugar beet, pumpkins and swedes are other crops to

be considered. The heavy yields o* th.se crops which can noimally be grown in fertile soils may counterbalance the extra labour required in feeding out and inter-cultivation. Oats and potatoes are other crops which may be fed to pigs in some circumstances. Consideration should also be given to green feed crops. The feeding of meals is useful with practically all the crops mentioned in this paregraph. Liberal manuring with all crops is also advisable. In planning a cropping programme cf the nature herein discussed due consul :ration should be given to climatic conditions. For instance, an att:mpt to grow maize and pumpkins in tho colder districts would not be made; likewise peas could not be rec mm nded for use in the warmer dis riels cf heavy rainfall and in these districts barley as a rule would r.ot be as suitable as maize.