EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VII 353 



the fore-quarters to the hind-quarters. She sluould have good depth; 

 in other words, she should be spready in those particular dimensions 

 whereby we get more pork, especially from the ears back. That is 

 where the pork is, and the highest-priced pork, of course, we secure 

 the farther back we get. It is like a steer. We want an animal that 

 has a goiod ham, because hams command a premium as compared to 

 other portions of the hog. We like to have good legs and feet, because 

 this animal has to carry this pork around. We like to have her show 

 a goiod middle, because that is indicative not only of maternal quali- 

 ties, but of capacity. The feed goes into this intestinal alimentary 

 apparatus, and then is converted into the flesh of the animal itself, 

 which is built externally to the intestinal apparatus. Therefore, we 

 want to have a sow that shows indications of capacity, so that she 

 will not only eat considerable feed herself with the right opportunity, 

 but will make good use of it and transmit this quality of capacity, so 

 that her pigs will eat a great deal and get to market in the shortest 

 possible time. It is well, I think, to avoid the sows that look as if they 

 had been caught between twp doors, end and end, and shoved up; they 

 are more likely to be wheezy. So we want to take the hog that is 

 stretchy and shows development. The ideal that I have in mind for a 

 brood sow is one that will farrow pigs which will gnow to heavy weights 

 if you want them to, but if you wish to finish them out at 225 pounds, 

 under conditions of suitable feeding, they will do so. In other words, 

 I want more than we usually get, but I think there has been some 

 progress made in recent years in developing a hog of that sort. 



We want this brood sow' to shiow maternal or mother quality — 

 plenty of good, sound teats, all indicating they are functional. In 

 the case of the sow that has had some litters, you can tell pretty well 

 what teats have been functional and which have not. We want one 

 that will produce milk — the fountain-head of youth so far as the young 

 pigs are concerned; it gives them a start in life. We want her to show 

 a quiet disposition, because that is quite essential at farrowing time; 

 particularly we want her to lie down and beckon in a motherly sort of 

 way, rather than get up and bite in a boarish sort of way. We want 

 her to show a fine female appearance, which really means an absence 

 of coarseness. We don't like the sow that has a heavy crest and shoul- 

 ders, but one that shows refinement in the head and bones and in the 

 hinder parts. Then we like to have a sow that is a good breeder and 

 not shy; one that will produce pigs if you give her the right sort of 

 opportunity. 



We will consider weight for age. If we have an eight months old 

 gilt that we are going to breed, we are not satisfied if she weighs 150 

 pounds; she ought to weigh at least 225, preferably 250 or 275 maybe 

 300. The chances are that if she didn't take on sufficient weight for 

 her age, her pigs won't do it. We want to look out and not sell off 

 the heaviest ones eVery fall. If we always pick the top ones, we are 

 injuring the herd; it is better to keep thiose for breeding purposes. If 

 you have yearlings at twenty months, we would not be satisfied if they 

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