602 ANNUAL. REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



SELECTING A BOAR FOR THE HERD. 



It is said that the boar, bull or stallion is half in the matter of 

 heading a herd or stud, and this is fully true; so when you wish a 

 boar get as good a one as your purse will allow, and you will be 

 well repaid. Good boars are eagerly sought for by all leading breed- 

 ers, so do not expect a world-beater for nothing. We have had let- 

 ters asking for a pig that would score 100 points, and then some, 

 and winding up with the words: "Remember, that I do not pay any 

 fancy prices and will not give over |20 for such a pig as I have 

 described." We generally answer this kind of a letter by saying 

 that such a pig has yet never been bred, and when we get one we 

 will use him ourselves. There are many choice boars that can be 

 purchased reasonablj^, but real outstanding show boars, or sows 

 either, command good, strong prices. We made a public sale of 47 

 head of Berkshires, varying in age from five months pigs to yearlings, 

 that made an average under the hammer of $107.06 each, and all 

 were purchased by parties attending the sale, so that something 

 like a hundred mail bids did not get an animal. I mention this sim- 

 ply to show that real breeders know the value of an animal when 

 they see it, and it has been our experience that the best ones are the 

 easiest to sell even at strong prices. We find in shipping pigs and 

 hogs to the various states that the farther east we go the lower prices 

 are expected; why this is, I cannot say. The South and West — espe- 

 cially the far west — will pay the longest prices for something that 

 suits them. The demand for good Berkshires was never greater 

 than now or during the past few years, and each year finds us sold 

 out long before the orders quit coming, either for young pigs or for 

 mature animals. One need never fear an over-production, but rest 

 assured of a market for all that are good enough to ship. 



In the breeding and selling of pure bred swine, one must always 

 do business on the square, for he cannot long do business any other 

 way. It takes time and careful dealing to build up a good business, 

 and when established he must continue the same painstaking meth- 

 ods or he will soon find his business leaving him, and when once it 

 starts to other channels, how very fast it goes, and he is soon with- 

 out any. One should always make it a point to satisfy a customer if 

 any complaint is made, for a satisfied customer always comes back 

 and a dissatisfied one seldom or never. 



THE DARK SIDE OF THE BUSINESS. 



That there is a dark side to any business all must admit, and the 

 breeding of pure-bred swine is no exception. 



One may have given his herd all the proper attention possible, 

 had all sanitary conditions perfect, all feed just right, all little atten- 

 tions given, and some fine morning he will find here and there a 

 pig that is ''off his feed" and has that tired look and appearance 

 and showing symptoms of that dread disease known as cholera, or 

 swine plague. We can all detect it at a glance, and it generally 

 gives the owner symptoms of heart failure, too, unless he has a heart 

 of steel, to see his whole year's crop drooping. He may try every 

 one of the sure cures, .and he will lose most of his herd just the same, 

 as when the germ once gets into a herd they are agoner, or at least 

 a large per cent, of them. After 30 years of experience I have made 



