It is not the object of the writer to urge farmers to feed more hogs — far from 

 it. Every farmer must be his own jutlge in this matter, and many farmers should 

 never attempt to raise hogs, owing to the fact that either the man himself is not 

 adapted to the business or his conditions are unsuitable. Nevertheless, it is true 

 that a few hogs might be kept profitably upon many farms where they do not find 

 a place to-day. 



Hogs a By-Product. — Generally speaking, the hog may be regarded as a 

 by-product of the farm, or, in other words^ he is a means of marketing the by- 

 products of the farm. In the cattle feed lots, we find him utilizing the corn which 

 the cattle have failed to digest and which otherwise would be wasted. In the 

 dairy district, he is th3 means of obtaining good value for skim milk, buttermilk, 

 and whey. Where mixed farming is practised, he consumes any dairy by-products, 

 small potatoes, and various other unmarketable substances, and gleans the stubble 

 fields, returning to his owner cash value for substances that are completely neg- 

 lected on many farms. Even the cottager frequently utilizes him to obtain a cash 

 return from kitchen refuse and table scraps. It is as a consumer of by-products 

 and so-called worthless materials that the hog shows to the best advantage from 

 the standpoint of profit. 



Advantages of Home-grown Feeds.— The farmer who raises most of 

 his own feed is in a much better position to feed hogs, or any other class of stock, 

 than the man who has to purchase all his feed. The farmer who grows his own 

 feed may not get any more than market prices for the grain or other produce con- 

 sumed by the hogs, and may still have a fair profit through selling his produce at 

 market prices in the form of pork; but the man who buys his feed can have for 

 profit only what he obtains in excess of the market value of the feeds consumed by 

 the hogs. Thus the farmer who grows his feed has two sources of profit, namely, 

 the grower's profit, or the profit obtained by selling his produce at market price; 

 together with the feeder's profit, or what he obtains for his produce in excess of 

 market price by selling it in the form of pork. The man who has to buy all the 

 produce which he feeds his hogs can have only the feeder's profit, and under un- 

 favorable conditions this profit may be so small that it will scarcely pay for the 

 labor involved. 



Raising 'Pigs. — Another point worthy of consideration is the fact that 

 ander favorable conditions and skilful management, young pigs can be raised for 

 feeding at a lower cost than that for which they can be bought. This point will 

 be dealt with more fully in another place but is mentioned here as one of the 

 factors which help to explain why some people can make hog feeding profitable, 

 while others cannot. 



Judgment Needed.' — One of the great difficulties in connection with the 

 swine industry is the fact that so many people are not content to engage in the 

 undertaking except on a large scale, and the people who can handle hogs in large 

 numbers and make the business a financial success are comparatively few. The 

 average farmer is safer to handle hogs in rather small numbers, and use them as 

 an adjunct to his other farm operations. Used in this way, and handled with 

 a reasonable degree ox judgment, the hog will give a good account of himself in 

 adding to the revenue and the profits from the farm. A very few years' exper- 

 ience should enable a farmer to determine just about how many hogs he can raise 

 to advantage. Some farms will carry very large numbers owing to the system of 

 farming which is carried on. but for many of the smaller farms one breeding sow 

 is plenty. 



