906 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



'Classes and subclasses are divisions into which swine are separated on account of 

 their differences in type, weight, quality, and condition, and the grades distinguish 

 the superior from the inferior animals within the classes and subclasses. The terms 

 'mediums and butchers,' 'pigs and roughs,' 'selected,' 'shipping,' 'mediums and 

 heavies,' 'mixed,' 'Yorkers,' and 'dairies' are either compound or colloquial 

 terms, and their use should be discouraged." 



The characteristics of the different groups are spoken of. Butcher hogs are com- 

 monly used for the fresh-meat trade and this class is made up principally of bar- 

 rows. Packing hogs as a class, the author states, are of poorer quality than the 

 butcher hogs and include some old brood sows "and all other hogs, except the 

 poorer classes, such as roughs, boars, and coarse stags, that are heavy enough for 

 this class and not good enough for the butcher-hog class." Light hogs include all 

 animals within the prescribed weights, except roughs, boars, and stags. Pigs also 

 include all animals within the prescribed weights and are in greatest demand in 

 the winter, being hard to preserve fresh in summer and too young to cure. 

 "Roughs include hogs of all sizes that are coarse, rough, and lacking in condi- 

 tion. . . . Stags are hogs that at one time were boars beyond the pig stage and have 

 teen subsequently castrated. . . . Boars are always sold in a class by themselves and 

 bring from two to three dollars per hundredweight less than the best hogs on the 

 market at the same time." 



By "governments" is meant all hogs that are not considered sound in every 

 respect and are therefore tagged by the Government inspector and retained for fur- 

 ther examination. The term " pen holders" is applied to hogs of little value, which 

 are kept in pens at the stock yards by commission merchants to insure their retain- 

 ing possession. Dead hogs are those which have been killed in the cars in transit 

 and are used for the manufacture of grease, soap, and fertilizer. As regards the per- 

 centage of the different classes in the Chicago market, the author makes the follow- 

 ing estimates: Butcher hogs 25, packing hogs 40, light hogs 15, pigs 10, and other 

 classes 10 per cent. 



According to the author, "butcher hogs are the best hogs from the fat or lard hog 

 standpoint that come to market, and should be used as a standard for comparison. 



"From the bacon-market standpoint the English bacon hog is the ideal toward 

 which hogs are being developed. 



"The fat or lard hog is such because corn has been his principal feed, and because 

 there has been a demand for pork from such a hog, and he will conform to the pres- 

 ent prevailing type just as long as corn remains his principal feed. 



"To the close observer it is apparent that the gradually changing conditions 

 brought about by the development of the United States and the increase in the 

 price of corn, resulting from its varied commercial uses, cause the hog to be fed a 

 more mixed and usually a more nitrogenous ration. This will in the future affect 

 the type of the hog of the United States, so that it will more nearly approach that of 

 the English bacon hog." 



The swine industry from the market standpoint, W. Dietrich (Illinois Sta. 

 ( 'ire. 83, pp. 8) . — From a discussion of the swine industry a number of general deduc- 

 tions are drawn, including among others the following: 



"The fluctuation in the number of hogs in the United States is subject largely to 

 the fluctuations in the financial condition of the country. 



"A high market price for hogs stimulates production up to the point where prices 

 are very high and the probability of a lower market seems evident, then it retards 

 production. 



"The retailer of meats has considerable influence on the hog market. By holding 

 the retail prices of pork at a high level when the hog market is on the downward 

 trend, he prevents increase in consumption, which, instead of checking, accelerates 

 the downward tendency of the hog market. 



