596 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



present-day methods of skiugbtering swine, and when a hog has 

 ])assed thiougli one of onr groat slanght(>ring establishments there is 

 nothing wasted except possibly the stpieal, and 1 have heard it stated 

 that even this was preserved by the phonograph. 



You also often hear the remark "as dirty as a pig." This is a vili- 

 fication of the animal that Franklin's colored servant said was "the 

 only gentleman in England" from the fact that he was the only ani- 

 mal in that country that did not have to work for a living. It is a 

 well-known fact that in most respects the hog is the most cleanly of 

 our domestic animals, and, unless confined to very close quarters, 

 will always keep himself and his bed clean. In this respect he is 

 much more cleanly than the horse or the cow. 



It has been said that "the hog is a machine that oils himself, puts 

 ten bushels of corn into less space than a bushel basket, and in 

 doing so doubles it value, then can carry it to market on his back. 

 Corn, barley, oats, rape, clover, or any of the products or by-products 

 of the farm loaned to a well-bred hog is money at big interest; in 

 fact, the hog may be called a mint. The corn, grasses, etc., the bul- 

 lion, which put into the hog, is transmuted into coin; it is an honest 

 mint and gives sixteen ounces avoirdupois of edible meat. Properly 

 bred, fed and intelligently handled, this autocratic porker will pay 

 off our debts, place a piano in the parlor, a carriage at the door, and 

 furnish the cash to send our boys to the agricultural college and 

 make better farmers and stock breeders of them. 



MARKET DEMANDS. 



The market of the present day demands quite a different weight 

 of hog than in former years, and yet almost any kind of a hog will 

 bring ready money, but not all with the same profit to the owner. 

 The most profitable hog for the general farmer to raise is the one 

 that with good care and feed will reach a weight of 225 to 285 

 pounds in the shortest possible time, and at the least cost to pro- 

 duce. To do this he must be a pig of good length of body, well-bred, 

 a good feeding type^ and must make a portion of this weight on 

 grass, rape or clover. There has been of late years a great hue and 

 cry about the bacon pig and there are men who would have us go 

 back to the type of the razor-back by trying to convince us that the 

 Tamworth is the only hog for the farmer. He may be a good hog 

 for some countries, but in the West he is not looked upon with favor. 

 When the markets of this country demand a bacon type of hogs 

 they can be furnished by selecting the more rangy types from our 

 present popular breeds and by a system of feeding they can be 

 brought to the bacon standard, but till the markets will pay a pre- 

 mium for this type of hogs the farmers — especially of the corn belt — 

 will continue to grow the quick, early-maturing type of hogs that 

 are always ready for the market from three months of age up. This 

 type of hog furnishes good bacon and hams, as well as lard and 

 other meat products. Speaking of hams and bacon, it is said that 

 "the principal reason our hams are discriminated against in the Eng- 

 lish markets is because of their better quality and that they can 

 be sold there cheaper than those produced in their own country." 



