336 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



descendants have done more to improve the breed than any other 

 six sows. Although quite exceeding the scope of my subject, while 

 I am already off of it any way, I want to make the suggestion that 

 the best way to improve the hog and arrive at, as near as possible, 

 the packer's ideal is to look first to type and then improve any weak 

 point or points. Many have hobbies, that is, no matter how per- 

 fect the type they will not keep for breeding purposes an animal 

 with a bad ear, head, coat, feet or even color and markings. If I had 

 followed that principle I would not have had the honor of breeding 

 and showing the grand champion barrow at the St. Louis World's 

 Fair. This barrow's grand dam, a half sister to Darkness, just re- 

 ferred to, and very much the same type, had a bad coat. I mated her 

 with a fine-coated boar of some the same type, but not quite so 

 pronounced, with the result that a part of the litter not only re- 

 tained the tjrpe of the sow, but had a nice coat like the sire. I 

 mated one of the sows from this litter with a boar especially good 

 in coat and got this champion barrow of very much the same type 

 as his grand dam and with as nice a coat as I ever saw. In the 

 same manner any other defect may be remedied and the type pre- 

 served. 



So much for the type of hogs the packer prefers. While my 

 subject only covers the packers' demands, since this type is, in 

 my opinion, so near the type that can be raised most economically, 

 I take the liberty of discussing the subject briefly from the stand- 

 point of the producer. The hog raiser will say — "all right for the 

 kind of a hog that suits the packer best, but we're looking out 

 for ourselves and want to raise the kind that net us the most 

 money — give us bone, bone, bone." This great cry from farmers 

 for bone was caused by a tendency of breeders several years ago 

 to sacrifice too much bone and size for fancy points, such as head, 

 ear, color, markings, etc. Because breeders went to extremes in 

 the matter of fancy points and got hogs too small is no reason 

 why the other extreme should be sought and size and bone looked 

 after at the expense of quality, for one is as bad as the other. 

 Breeders have come to realize that size and bone must be main- 

 tained, and they are striving to get just as much size and bone 

 as it is possible to have and at the same time preserve the accepted 

 type and quality that the packer demands and pays a premium for. 

 The hogs that are receiving the awards at the best state fairs 

 under the best judges we have are of a much larger type and bone 

 than they were several years ago, and the improvement along these 

 lines will continue. As I stated in treating the feet and legs of a 



