206 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



mile than any other State in the world. There is more wealth produced 

 from the rearing of swine in the State of Iowa than from any other prod- 

 uct she produces. Therefore, gentlemen, as exponents of this great 

 industry, you as an organization are here to protect not only your busi- 

 ness, but the business of a great State and one of the greatest wealth 

 producing industries she has. 



"The object of this Association has been to preserve the interest of 

 this great industry and endeavor to make its conditions better and for- 

 ward its interests in every line. This Association has, from the time of 

 my earliest connection with it, kept that steadily in view and adhered to 

 those principles and it will always do so and it is becoming recognized 

 by the farmers of Iowa as a great help to them and they are realizing 

 more each year the benefits accruing from the efforts of this Swine 

 Breeders' Association. 



"We have on our program many topics that are intended to shed 

 further light on our industry and to be an aid to beginners and a help to 

 the older ones in the business." 



At the completion of President McTavish's address Secretary 

 Carlin read the paper of W. Z. Swallow, of Waukee, Iowa, on the 

 subject of "Forty Years a Swine Breeder." 



FORTY YEARS A SWINE BREEDER. 



W. Z. SWALLOW, WAtJKEE, lA. 



When I was in the army in Arkansas we had to catch the razor-back 

 hogs, were not allowed to shoot them, and I said to the boys that if I ever 

 raised a hog 1 would raise a good one. There were more Berkshires than 

 Poland Chinas in our part of the country at that time, in 1864 and 1865. 

 We were raising at that time a coarse hog, heavy eared and spotted. I 

 got my first lesson on medium type hogs from old Mr. Sam Clark. He 

 said you want a pig that you can cut his head off and cut his legs off and 

 put him into a box he will fit in. Then I began to study it up and take to 

 the more medium type. They were a whole lot different from what they 

 are now. They were coarse animals, with heavy ears that came right down 

 to the end of the nose sometimes. Once in awhile one had a sandy spot, 

 but these sandy spots when they would shed would shed white. I bought 

 my first Poland China hogs from Magie, of Oxford, Ohio, and the second 

 bunch from A. C. Moore, of Canton, Illinios, in 1864. The hogs were called 

 by the names of Magie hog and Moore hog. There was quite a difference 

 between the type of the Magie hog and the Moore hog. The Moore hog 

 was more flat, with coarse, rough hair and spotted. Sometimes called it 

 the pumpkin seed hog. The next ones I got of W. W. Ellsworth, of Wood- 

 stock, 111., and they were a more finely finished hog. I paid from $25 to 

 $35 and even as high as $50. Our trade run from $10 to $12 and $15. 

 I think it was somewhere along irt the seventies that I sold a pig at a 

 district fair for $50, the first pig I ever sold for $50. One fellow said he 

 was going to beat me. I had the best pig, but he beat me and bought my 



