The results of this experiment, as presented in Table I, show that
sweet clover carried more pigs to the acre and produced cheaper gains
and a greater net profit per acre than either red clover or rape. To
judge from the date of seeding of the plants tested, it was to be
expected that the pigs pasturing on the sweet clover would not gain
as rapidly at first as those pasturing on the other forage plants,
as the growth of the sweet clover at this time was undoubtedly much
less than that of the other crops. This assumption is borne out by the
results given for the first 84 days of the test. During this period
the pigs on the rape made a net gain of $11.55 per acre and those on
the red clover $6.86 per acre more than those on the sweet clover. In
these computations corn was valued at 50 cents per bushel and hogs at
$6 per hundredweight. During the latter part of the experiment there
was but a scant growth of red clover on the plats, while the sweet
clover produced an abundance of forage, and during this period of the
experiment the pigs pasturing on sweet clover made a net gain of $10.14
per acre more than those pasturing on red clover and $17.41 per acre
more than those pasturing on rape. (Table I.) The difference in net
profits probably would have been greater had white sweet clover been
used instead of yellow sweet clover, as it makes a larger growth and
contains approximately the same ratio of food elements.
Table I.--Relative merits of Dwarf Essex rape, red clover, and yellow
sweet clover when pastured by spring pigs for 141 days, June 22 to
November 10, 1910.
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