196 bTATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



EVENING SESSION. 

 Mr. D. F. Vickery, of Benton, road the following paper on 



THE BEST BREEDS OF SWINE. 



After giving- a brief description of the scrub breed of bogs, whicb be re- 

 garded as worse than wortbless, Mr. Vickery said : 



I will now proceed to describe the breeds that I think are the best. "\V'm. 

 Smith of Detroit, the largest swine breeder in Michigan, says: "After experi- 

 menting with the various breeds or varieties common to the country, I have dis- 

 carded all but the Suffolk, Essex and Berkshire, they being the only standard 

 thoroughbreds, and in my opinion the three best, most desirable and profitable 

 breed?, combining more good qualities than all others, and certainly possessing 

 the greatest degree of merit for improving other and common stock." 



I have never experimented with but two breeds, the Berkshire and Suffolk. 

 There is no essential difference between tlie Suffolk and Essex except in color. 

 The Suffolks are pure wliite and the Essex jet black. 



I don't know that I bave any preference between the Berksbire and Suffolk 

 for crossing witli the common swine of the county. Either cross is a great 

 imiirovement, but I think it pays better to breed nothing but thoroughbreds. 

 It costs a little more in the beginning, but it takes so much less to fatten 

 them that the farmer is a gainer in a short time. 



For the market, either one of these breeds is about as good as the other, but 

 for pork for family use, I greatly prefer the Berkshire. Tlie hams and shoul- 

 ders are large in proportion to their body, and they possess a much larger pro- 

 portion of lean than any other breed of swine, even the side pork is well 

 streaked and marbled with lean. The iiesh throughout is very tender, sweet 

 and juicy. If lard is what is sought, then the Suffolk is preferable. AVm. 

 Smith says, a well fattened Suffolk is an animated lard-tub, and that is so. 

 His flesh is also very tender, sweet, and delicate. The Suffolk has a small 

 head, fine small ears, small bones, and but little offal. lie is a good feeder 

 and will fatten at any age, and is a very desirable hog. 



To make swine breeding profitable, tiiey must have comfortable, well ventila- 

 ted sleeping apartments and be fed regularly. I find it is most profitable to 

 cook the feed and feed it warm in winter-time. My feed this winter consists 

 of one-half coarse middlings, one-fourth fine middlings and one-fourth corn 

 meal, made into mush and thinned with water to about tlie consistency of 

 cream when fed. It costs me about two and a half cents per head a day to keep 

 my swine, and they are in good condition. I also keep them supplied with 

 ashes and coals, that keeps them healthy. I find that sows in good fiesh pro- 

 duce larger, stronger, more even and larger litters of pigs than tlun ones. I 

 think it is very poor economy to let a hog get thin, the pork is never so good. 

 I forgot to mention the size of my hogs that I am keeping for two and a 

 half cents per day. I have a few shoats about three months old, that will weigh 

 about seventy-five or eighty pounds, the rest will range from two hundred and 

 fifty to five hundred pounds. 



Care of Sows while Nursing Pigs. 



Sows should be liberally fed while nursing their young. I find that corn and 

 oats ground together and made into mush and tliinned with milk is the best of 

 feed, — give them all they will eat three times a day, and they will nurse ten 



