3 34 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF ACJRICULTURE 



state fair grounds, the most complete building of the kind in the 

 country today. 



The president referred to the fact that the breeders had com- 

 pleted one of the most successful years in the history of the breed- 

 ing of improved swine, the sales of the past season, while being 

 clear of fictitious values and boom prices, having broken all rec- 

 ords measured from an actual cash standpoint while the demand 

 seems to be increasing for good breeding stock of all the breeds 

 of improved swine. The South is fairly clamoring for hogs of 

 all the leading breeds for breeding purposes, denoting the fact 

 that they have found in the improved hog a great improvement 

 over the old razor-back hog. The market for hogs for slaughter, 

 while not as high as a year ago, is yet good and corn marketed 

 by the hog route is bringing a better price than when sold to the 

 elevator, besides keeping up the fertility of the farm and saving 

 the freight. The im])ortance of the swine industry of the state 

 stands third, only l)eing exceeded by the value of horses and 

 cattle. The value of the swine of the state January 1, 1911, was 

 $73,000,000, according to the treasurer's returns. 



President Watson called attention to the agitation about the 

 score card or breed standard. The present types of our improved 

 swine have taken years of persistent effort and time to bring about 

 and any radical changes should be made only after deliberately 

 and carefull}^ considering the possibilities of improving swine. 

 It is always easier to tear down than to build up. Therefore, it 

 behooves breeders to be careful and not be carried away by fads 

 and fancies. 



THE STATE FAIR A SCHOOL FOR THE YOUNG BREEDER. 



The above subject was discussed by F. L. Emmert, of Mason City, who 

 began by stating that the state fair is the most practical school for the 

 young breeder. Some will say the farm is the most practical school, 

 but at the fair he has all the old and best breeders there as his instructors 

 and gets advice from them. The young breeder can obtain a great deal 

 of good just by going to the fair to visit, but the most good is to be 

 there as an exhibitor. The first thing that the young breeder should and 

 does learn at the fair is to get a better idea of an ideal hog or standard 

 of perfection, for he not only sees the best individuals of his own breed 

 but of all breeds. A very common error of new breeders is that they 

 have no ideal hog, although sometimes they think they have the best 

 hogs.. It is very essential for the young breeder to establish a standard 

 of perfection for no one can win success without an idea of what he 

 wants and then working up to it. Still another thing he can learn is in 



