354 - IOWA DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE 



only weigh 200 pounds; we want them to^weigh 325 to 400; and if they 

 can take on lieavier weight and do it witliout excessive fatness, so much 

 the better. 



Kiow about condition? It is well, I think, to have sows fat, to see 

 what they will do; yet when we have them on our farms we can't af- 

 ford to keep them in such fat condition; it makes them sluggish and 

 tends to decrease their vigor. So we want a brood sow to be not too 

 fat, but to look as near like a lady hog as possible, and under average 

 farm conditions, it is poor policy to carry them over-fat. Fat put on 

 with the right sort of feeds and abundant range, where the animal gets 

 plenty of exercise, is much better than putting them in a close pen, 

 weakening their strength, and fattening them under those conditions. 



How about the age of sows? The vast majority of sows kept for 

 breeding purposes in Iowa are gilts. That is particularly true the last 

 two years. Gilts have many advantages over old sows, but they have 

 some disadvantages. Primarily, we keep gilts because there is less 

 capital invested in them, because we can turn them quicker, because 

 they are putting on a little flesh continuiously and increasing in value, 

 while that is not true of an old sow. A gilt won't farrow quite so many 

 pigs, is not so sure, and you have to keep miore of them to get a cer- 

 tain number of pigs to meet your demands for the coming. year. They 

 won't be quite so large at farrowing time, neither will they be at wean- 

 ing time. But the old sow takes more feed to carry her thru the winter 

 than a gilt, and it is a toss-up as to what you shall do. The breeder 

 who is depending -upon foundation stock wants to use old sows, be- 

 cause he kn^ows what they will do, and he has a certain amount tied 

 up in them because of their breeding potentiality. But with the mar- 

 ket man it is different. Gilts properly managed, fed rightly, and cared 

 for well, do splendidly. Of course, it is a little more of a gamble; you 

 don't know what the gilt will produce until she produces. There are 

 s\o many advantages in keeping gilts, however, that we do keep them 

 in practice. 



How about the breed? Well, that is a very broad subject, and there 

 are a great many different breeds on the market, as you know. Just 

 what breed we shall use depends on a number of conditions. For 

 instance, you have to decide whether y^ou will breed lard hogs or bacon 

 hogs. You may live in a certain community where you can get more 

 from your neighbors for Poland Chinas, and, if so, your choice will 

 simmer down to that breed. Then there is the question of feeds. If 

 you live where there are feeds more \ot less bulky, like oats and bar- 

 ley, as in Canada, then you will want to have a little different animal 

 than in the corn belt, where corn is fed in large quantities. A bacon 

 hog doesn't have to be made nearly as fat as a lard hog; the price is 

 lowered if you make them very fat. You can get them to a certain 

 weight on a lighter feed than you can a lard hog. There is a great 

 problem of personal preference. You have a lot of ideas that you don't 

 have any real reason for. If we were all built exactly the same and 

 liked the same sort of women, then there would be just one wife for 



