674 BOARD 0¥ AGRlCULTUEEk 



CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF BROOD SOWS. 



JOHN G. EVANS, LETTS, IND. 



[Read before Farmers' Institute, Decatur County.] 



Hog raising is a tinancial issue. The probleili now before lis is what 

 Ivind of hogs shall we breed, and what shall we feed to produce the most 

 dollars and cents in the least time and with the least feed? On this point 

 there is a diversity of opinion between farmers, breeders and professors 

 of agricultural colleges, but not so mucli on the feed as on the breed.. 

 We all have some idea as to what we want in the shape of a hog, some 

 preferring one kind and others something different; and with some color 

 makes consideraljle difference, and tliey will sacrifice some quality to 

 obtain the desired color, while knowing that the market price will not 

 be affected as long as the hog carries the required quality and finish. 

 The selection of the soav is the first and most important matter for the 

 breeder to consider. Some people are satisfied when they have a sow 

 that will raise a large litter of pigs, but do not stop to consider either 

 the feeding qualities or early maturity, or symmetry in form, Avhich is so 

 very essential in the foundation of a herd; while others, by following 

 another line of selection and by too exclusive a corn diet have produced 

 a sow that raises so small a litter of pigs as to be unprofitable. Viewing 

 this subject from the standpoint of the general farmer who raises hogs 

 foF feeding, and who is already in the business, and assuming that lie 

 has exercised at least fair judgment in the starting of a herd, we 

 recognize the fact that the only practical and economical thing for liim 

 to do is to select most of his brood sows from his own herd. And in 

 making his selection he should adhere to oiu- unswerving rule, and tliat 

 is in all cases and under all circumstances to select and keep for his 

 own use the best. It is fair to assume tliat lie has studied the subject 

 until he has a more or less fixed ideal of a brood sow. Or, if he has 

 not done so it is his duty to study the question until in his selection, 

 eitlier from his own herd or from that of his neiglibor, or from the herd 

 of a professional breeder, he shall obtain a type somewhat of the follow- 

 ing description: First, she should be large, with plenty of bone and 

 length; good depth, with short, wide nose, which denotes strength; 

 wide between the eyes and ears, which denotes intelligence; wide between 

 the forearms, a full neck, a well filled heart girth, and a well sprung 

 rib, which denotes good lung power; an active heart, and a robust 

 constitution. Then comes the straiglit, wide, slightly arched back and 

 shoulders and hams to compare, all put upon four straight, stout legs. 



