THE PROFITABLE PIG.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18551, 8 November 1923, Page 12

THE PROFITABLE PIG.

IMPORTANCE TO FARMERS;. _______ ■i ... i ■- SOME ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLES. BY J.B.H. In these days of high living costs,- inflated land values, and increased competition in the world's markets, the farmer is at times hard .-put to it to show Anything like the profits of bygone days. But in many instances he is content to bewail , his fate, and plod on in the old hap* hazard way, while if he looked the facts squarely in the face he would see that increased Living costs most mean increased prices for some farm produce, but not necessarily that which he is producing. The secret of success in business, and j farming is a business, is to give to the I world what the world wants, and at the I time when the world wants it. Now if 'rents, rates, taxes, living,, etc., etc., ax« ' higher than before, the position must be met by an increase in the productivity of the land, at least as. far as the farming community is concerned; more crops : must be grown and more grass area i ploughed under to - give room for this. More stock must be carried and winter : feeding on a larger scale adopted to carry [ this increase through the months of little I growth. Sheep must,increase, and where j the dairy is the prime factor, more and better cows must be maintained. And in addition we must, look farther ahead and in some measure other products than • mutton, milk, and beef must be raised to , try to meet the enhanced costs of production, and this is whero the pig comes in. The Place of the Pig. New Zealand is an ideal country for ; pig rearing, and the wonder is that, in i a "land where dairying is so extensively i carried on, pigs have such a minor ; place in the farming economy.. What | becomes of the dairy by-products, skim j milk and whey ? Are they utilised as I they should bo" to meet the onward up- | ward march of the increasing cost of living ? Until the farmer realises that he j is as much to blame as the "Government," [ or other such outsider, for his diminishing bank account, he can deserve, and will get, little sympathy or consideration from the student of farm economics. . Pigs have been proved to be the most economical of meat producers. For the fattening steer 12!b. of food will produce only three-fifths of a pound of beet, while with the pig the same amount of food is responsible for two pounds increase of pork or bacon. Pigs reach marketable ago quickly, and reproduction is very prolific. Taking the average reproduction where animals are well selected, fed, and cared for, the returns are as follows: —Sheep 150 per cent increase per annum; cows 90 per cent increase per annum; horses 50 per cent increase per annum; pigs 1400 per cent increase per annum. Two litters per year can be, and should be obtained from a good breeding sow, and the above average is on a basis of seven per litter raisedsurely a moderate estimate for a good, well-kept, grade sow, where 14 to 16 young per litter are not uncommon. Maintenance of Figs. Before the new generation of pigs are able to give any return to tho breeder they must be maintained, and this must be taken into consideration in reckoning up the costs of production. Tho longer an animal must be kept and fed till it is ready, to show any return, so much more must the profit be to make up for these maintenance charges. The following is & liberal average estimate of this maintaining —Sheep, one year: cow, two to three years: horse, two to three years; pig, four to five months. And in the case of the pig this is spread over the whole litter, giving an average maintenance charge of very much less than that of any other farm animaL Thus pigs are kept intensively and are very profitable, but it is as well to remember that there is a limit to the amount of farm and dairy by-products that they can consume economically. For the best results they must have a quantity of special rations in addition, to give that quick and profitable return that makes all the difference between success and failure. Again the capital outlay on pig fanning is comparatively high, and haphazard methods of housing, feeding, etc., will not do to compensate for this. ... Furthermore, over-production tends to glut the market, but this can be overcome by opening up other markets, and by competing with our competitors with a belter class of pork and bacon. Disease also is a factor to be considered, but no more so here, in fact less, on account of our climate, than in other countries where the various swine diseases have been established for generations, and are successfully combated. ' '■' ':■■..,■ Conditions of Bearing Pigs. . Taking all. into consideration then, to the thinking farmer, on a farm where cows are milked, and roots can be' grown, the pig must be reckoned to have a place, ever increasing, in the the farm economy. Now a word on the conditions under which pigs may be successfully and extensively reared. To the uninitiated the pig has always had the name of an unclean feeder and a beast to be kept in the background when our town visitors come to view our rural surroundings, hut is this fair, or is it true The cleanest of feeders, not excluding some of the higher animals of our planet, would become unclean lind filthy if confined in such houses and under such conditions as the average man gives to his pigs. Dirt and pigs do not satisfactorily go together, though it is true that the pig will put up with more unsavoury and unhealthy surrounding* than perhaps any other animal, but that is not to say that he likes them. In pig rearing the farmer has his choice at one or other of two methods:—l. ' Close housing; 2. Free ranging. The adoption of either of these types of rearing, or of a combination of both must depend on many considerations, and it would be unwise to lay down for everyone any "best" method. It has to be considered for what purpose the pig is being kept, whether for bacon, pork, or lard productionthe capital at the rearer's disposal, the particular breed of pig that can be best kept in conjunction with market requirements, lecal conditions, and the area of land that can be given over to the fodder or to the pig range. But more important is, that the farmer who is thinking of going in extensively for his branch of profit making, shall go thoroughly into all aspects before finally deciding on any particular line of action, and the object of this and succeeding articles is, and will be, to put the salient facts and considerations before 7 the breeder, and leave him to decide which will best suit him and his market.