Cottonseed meal to hogs.

Abstract

<p>Cotton-seed meal was quite extensively introduced as a stock food in the northern states last winter by reason of its heavy production in the southern states and the severe drouth prevailing in the corn belt in 1894, and consequent high price of corn and other grain feeds. The introduction of this feed brought the station many inquiries concerning the feeding value of cotton-seed meal and the practicability of adopting it in feeding rations. We have fed it to the extent of six and seven pounds per day to dairy cows and fattening cattle with good results and no apparent injury. This work is still in progress and will be reported in bulletin 29, soon to be issued, and the present report will be confined to the results of feeding cottonseed-meal to hogs. In February of this year the writer purchased of a neighboring farmer a thrifty, even lot of fifteen Poland China shotes weighing 1480 pounds. They were bred and reared alike and selected from a bunch of twenty-five, and furnished a desirable lot for experimentation. In order to detect any possible difference due to individuality, the fifteen shotes were on February 23rd, divided into five lots of three each and fed alike for two weeks on uniform rations of corn and cob meal and butter-milk, and weighed weekly. This period gave again of 61, 54, 46, 50, and 54 pounds respectively per lot in fourteen days, and the individual record showed that every shote was gaining and doing well in all respects. The feed given in the preliminary period consisted of 4 pounds each of corn and cob meal and four pounds of butter-milk per head daily.</p>