Sivine Groivers' Association. 339 



stalls or pens on each side. These pens should be not less than 

 8x10 feet — the larger the better. The alley way could be used 

 to feed in. ¥/ith a supply of straw for bedding, with alfalfa and 

 clover hay in the loft, and water and grain handy, the larger 

 house would soon pay for itself, and then when the storm was 

 over the hogs could be taken back to their cotes and lots. This 

 is not what we have at Peabcdy Farm, but what we hope in the 

 near future to have. 



BREEDING OF HOGS FOR MARKET PURPOSES. 



(C. B. Adams, Grandview, Missouri.) 



Every systematic breeder and up-to-date farmer realizes that 

 the ultimate end of hog-raising is the pork barrel, and the quicker 

 the growth to market maturity the more profit there is for the 

 husbandman. There are two very im.portant factors for the swine 

 grower to consider: First, the breeding of a type that has the 

 power of applying food to the laying on of muscle and fat and will 

 provide a maximum am.ount of choice pork at a minimum cost; 

 second, the feeding of the proper kinds and amount of food to get 

 the desired results — one is as essential as the other. The details 

 of breeding hogs and caring for hogs are so intricately interwoven 

 that one may select an excellent foundation for his herd, but, if he 

 does not feed and care for them properly the work is usually in- 

 effectual. On the other hand it would be equally as disastrous to 

 feed and care properly for a herd that had been poorly selected. 

 As this last point is to be discussed separately, I shall deal directly 

 with the breeding of the type most profitable to the farmer. 



A subdivision of a family in the animal kingdom may be rec- 

 ognized as a distinct or separate breed when with very slight vari- 

 ations it will reproduce under the same conditions until it has ac- 

 quired a distinctive character common to all the members. In 

 every family of domesticated animals there are numerous varia- 

 tions continually cropping out. Through man's interference and 

 control of these variations there are in all hogdom several recog- 

 nized breeds of hogs, but all may be satisfactorily placed in one or 

 the other of the two great classes : viz, the bacon hog and the lard 

 hog. Each has a distinct purpose to perform, brought about by 

 breeding and artificial conditions, together with the natural cause 

 — the different kinds of food found in different sections of the 

 country. England may admonish us upon the quality of our 



