PASTURE IN PIG FEEDING.

New Zealand Mail, 17 September 1902, Page 65 (Supplement)

PASTURE IN PIG FEEDING.

Amongst letters written to aiiAmeri. ean stock journal by practical breeders m order to obtain an exchange of opinion upon the subject of pig raising generally, a successful farmer, Mr p. C. Holme, submits that his experience leads him to conclude that the most common mistake on the part- of many is trying to raise pigs with little or no pasture. ide says:—*

I hold that pigs can he raised more cheaply uitli pasture and the variety of grains our farms produce than iii any other way. The pigs will be -iom healthy and of better form and finish than is possible to 1 produce l m pens or yards, without pasture. We have seen so many good pigs grown on plug grass and clover, with a judicious feeding of maize and mill feed, and taken by .myers to pens and muddy or dusty yards and stuffed with maize until they were as fat as seals and about a* useful, for breeding purposes, that our interest in young buyers and good stock leads us to say a word in favour of more pas turo and less maize for swine, and especially for breeding stock. So essential is green feed of some kind, witn range for sows and young pigs, that wo would not take the risk of growin* even feeding pigs without a pasture cf grass, rye or clover. With range on these, pigs can safely be fed maize enough to keep them in good fle s h ready to send to market when occasion demands. In fact, this is the safest way to grow pigs in these days when disease is so general, and there i s a market every day in the year for pigs of any size, if in good order.

The day is past for just keeping young pigs alive and hunting a living until new maize comes, and then gorge them with it, to fit them for market. This practice has been one of the ready means for inviting outbreaks of disease and placing feeders at the mercy of the packers. After such pigs have been made fat, or disease makes its appearance, they cannot he safely kept long enough to take advantage of the markets.

Pigs that are grown on pasture with grain get exercise and variety of feed to give them vigour and regularity of appetite, which enables them to ward off disease, which, under other conditions, would he most destructive. While it is tlio accepted opinion that maize is essential for cheapest production of pork, it is equally true that the'cheapest and hest pork cannot be grown without gra-ss. The ideal pig farm is one where there can be found every month of the year grass, clover, rye or a range in .rough land, with water pure and abundant, as well as good fields and cribs of mniz-\ A permanent, blue grass pasture olover field in rotation with wheat a '

maize, and seeding with rye to pasture and turn under for spring crops, furnish the variety that" enables one to give the changes of feed and range that the sows and young pigs delight in. A permanent pasture adjoining the pig louses and feed lots is the ideal range for the sows with litters. After weaning, the sows can go to the pasture held, and the weamngs have the maize and slops or mill feed and range on blue grass, until they are so well ad~ that j le , culls IT *ay bo removed to pasture and the breeders pushed on, ready for buyers or for breeding pin-1 poses, and have every day all the exercise they need to keep them vigorous, and all the grass they will eat to grow bone and muscle, and complete the rations of grain the farm affords. Possibly a farmer may be so well edu- , in the art of combining feeding, stuffs bought from the mills as to meet the wants of the growing pigs completely, but eveii the most scientific feeder cannot furnish a combination of feeds that will meet the wants of the young pig S ow or boar as completely as when they also have access to nature s complete corrective and food. Wo may feed in yards or pens as complete rations as science may devise, and even cut clover or rye and carry to them, yet no man has been able to do tins so as to secure as good results as when the stock can do its own grazing at pleasure between feeds.

Rations on maize lands that will furnish pasture of some kind are not only beneficial to the pigs, but to the land. They not only help to make better pigs and better pork, hut they help to improve the farm and the farmer. There is neither wisdom nor profit in the old combination of maize ancl pigs. Maize is our great crop and pigs our greatest money-makers, but to neglect growing as many acres of pasture of some kind as acres of maize is to neglect our opportunity of groining better pigs at less risk. Too many are deceived by the plump appearance of the corn-fed pig. They mistake fatness for vigour and health.

vVe can fatten a pig on maize and water, hut- we cannot grow them as well or as safely or of as good quality as. wo can with grass added. Less maize and more grazing is as essential for cheapest and safest growing of pigs as of growing cattle, sheep or horses There is little doubt that the vitality of our pigs has been weakened and disease induced by the neglect of furnishing them witli the variety their nature demands. They are more surely ommverous than are any other farm stock.

The best breeders and the most successful growers cf pigs have always been found among those who are skilful m growing grass and clover, as well as maize. Every pig farm must have clover and grass, as well as maize in abundance, to he worthy of the name. The four greatest pig States—lowa, Missouri,- Illinois and Texas, have attained the leading rank in number of pigs produced because of their abundance of maize, but the frequency of outbreaks of disease in the large herds where maize is the main feed Is a warning that all States may heed and strive to protect themselves by more grass and les s maize. The farm and the pigs will be the better for the change.