FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 131 



E. A. Croman: It is noticeable that no stock markets quote prices on this class of 

 hogs. The demand is rather the other way. One possible reason for the high price 

 of the Tamworth swine is the fact that there are very few herds of that breed in the 

 United States today. 



Q. How do yon finish oflf these bacon hogs? 



J. J. Ferguson: It does not much matter how you feed these hogs the first five 

 months, but to succeed you must exercise care in the last two months. Remember 

 that you want a hog not covered with a thick coat of fat but with the fat well dis- 

 tributed and at no place over the back or shoulders over an inch thick. We must feed 

 therefore, high foods, and cut off both succulent feeds and such as tend to produce an 

 excess of fat. During the last month feed peas, bran and shorts. Certainly not more 

 than one-half corn. The conditions in the United States differ from those in Canada. 

 In this last country the bacon hog is worth more by fifty cents per hundred than the 

 lard hog. The Canadians have not the corn to feed, and hence resort to bacon produc- 

 tion as the most promising kind of hog raising for their conditions. You will note 

 that the packing; luii.scs of Chicago are now catching on to the fact that England puys 

 more for bacon than for either lard or hams, and there is to be seen the beginnings of a 

 demand for bacon hogs in Chicago. Rape is a good feed for bacon hogs, but plenty cf 

 grain must be used with it. 



IMPORTANCE OF TYPE IN PROFITABLE STEER FEEDING. 



HERBERT W. MUMFORD. 



During the last decade, when low prices persistently prevailed for beef 

 cattle, a thick cloud spread over the beef cattle industry of this coun- 

 try. It first appeared in the heavens no larger than a man's hand; it 

 slowly increased in size until some began to prophecy that beef cattle 

 could no longer be raised at a profit, then it spread rapidly and settled 

 down upon all points of the horizon, became thicker and blacker, until 

 the most ardent believers in the industry were about to lose hope that 

 there would ever come a time when beef -growing would again be a 

 profitable industry on the farm. 



During these years of depression for beef cattle, the dairy interests of 

 this country were making rapid strides. The farmer, as yet unlearned in 

 the dairyman's art, found many things to learn. One of the most im- 

 portant lessons he had to learn was, that not every cow was a profitable 

 cow, even though she might receive the best of care and management. 



He learned the value of these, to be sure, but he found that some 

 cows would do much better than others with the same care and under 

 like conditions. 



Gradually there was evolved an idea that the profitable dairy cow, 

 as a rule, conformed to a certain type. So strong a hold has this idea 

 upon the minds of dairymen that you can scarcely take up an agricul- 

 tural journal today that does not have something to say about the selec- 

 tion of the dairy cow, or the dairy type. 



The most experienced dairymen understand that the best dairy cows 

 do not all belong to one breed, nor yet to one type — that a cow may 

 possess an excellent dairy form and yet be unprofitable in the dairy herd. 

 Notwithstanding these few exceptions, for they are exceptions rather 

 than the rule, we have never yet seen a practical, progressive dairyman 

 who did not rely with considerable confidence upon his knowledge of 

 dairy form as an indication of capacity and performance in the cow. 



