Feeding experiments with cottonseed-meal

Abstract

Introduction: Never before in the history of our country has either the demand for pork been so great or were there so many hogs raised as at the present time. Corn is and always will be " King of the feed yard: Swine cannot subsist upon dry fodder as do the ruminants, and as corn is the most abundant and convenient grain to feed, it has, in the past, been almost the only grain fed to hogs. With the advance of Agricultural Science, the study of feeds for live stock has radically changed the feeding methods in the great stock producing regions. The necessity of foods richer in protein than corn, to form with corn a balanced ration, has increased the demand for the various mill by-products beyond the supply. Not only is the balanced ration more economical but more healthful. In the past each great corn year has been followed by wide spread ravages of hog cholera. The losses of a single season amounting to millions of dollars and for several seasons paralyzing swine raising in the affected regions. It was a noticable fact that a hog fed on mill-feeds or that had free access to abundant alfalfa or clover pasture, not only fed better but was more resistant to disease than the exclusively corn-fed hog. Though clover and alfalfa is the cheapest of feeds in their season, some other protein feed must be provided for the winter months. Shorts, bran and ground linseed oil-cake have been used with corn extensively and profitably to produce a better balance ration. However, the increasing demand for these feeds has raised their price almost beyond the feeders reach.