Stock Food for Pigs

The production of pork is one of the principal industries throughout the entire corn-belt. As the corn-belt is being extended northwestwardly, and as hundreds of farmers from eastern points are coming to this State, annually, to make it their future homes, the production of pork is sure to increase rapidly. There is no place in South Dakota, in which the small grains are grown, where the hog will fail to be a valuable addition to the livestock on the farm, if given a chance. The demand for pork in the market is usually as good as it is for any other kind of meat. Early maturity is a desirable characteristic in any kind of livestock, and if this feature can be brought about by feeding artificial compounds (other than are produced on the farm) their use must be considered a benefit rather than a detriment, providing the cost is not prohibitive. In the following pages are given the results obtained during the past two years in feeding stock foods to the fattening pig. Prepared stock foods are becoming a common commodity in our markets and wonderful claims as to their value are made in some instances when fed in conjunction with grain. Some claim that they will save feed. Prepared stock foods are-to be found for sale in probably every town and city in South Dakota. Many requests have reached the writer during the past few years as to their relative feeding value, which is best, etc., etc. As it was impossible to give each food found in the market a trial, five of the commonly used brands were selected and during the summer of 1906 an experiment was planned to determine these facts. In 1907 it was repeated to ascertain whether results by feeding the same brands would be similar for the two years, thereby establishing the superiority of one brand over the others