296 IOWA DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



make little or no distinction between any color or any breed. What 

 they want is a smooth, even lot of well-finished hogs without regard 

 to ancestry. Still there is little to be said in favor of the cross-bred 

 hog. While we stated that practically no discrimination is made 

 against any color, yet a spotted lot of hogs do not look as even as a load 

 of uniform color and usually suffer as a consequence. You seldom 

 see a picture of spotted or off-colored hogs that topped the market. 

 About the only time when any certain color is demanded occurs with 

 certain eastern shipping orders which specify the desire for black 

 hogs, but this particular demand is too small to affect the market to 

 any appreciable extent. 



Now we hear somebody ask, "What about the bacon hog?" Let me 

 say right here that the bacon hog will never worry the swine breeders 

 of Iowa. The bacon type is not so much a product of heredity as it 

 is a product of environment and particularly food. Here in Iowa where 

 corn is king the bacon type will never reach any high grade of develop- 

 ment, but will rather retrograde toward the lard hog form. On our 

 American markets the Berkshire is preferred for a bacon hog, but this 

 may be due to the fact that the other bacon types are but little known. 

 The Tamworth, which had many ardent supporters a few years ago 

 is gradually falling into oblivion, hog buyers objecting to the heavy 

 bone and enormous head of that breed. Still in light hog season it 

 is only fair to say that the Tamworth sells well in comparison with other 

 breeds. Whatever the claims of the various breeders may be it still 

 remains an established fact that the corn-fed hog is the only one which 

 meets all market demands at the present time. A Detroit buyer who 

 patronizes the Chicago market said that he came there because he 

 couldn't get the desired quality anywhere else. 



Volumes might be said and written on swine diseases but there is 

 one ailment that deserves particular mention at this time, and that 

 is swine tuberculosis. In most cases this plague is not discovered 

 until the carcasses come under government inspection, and then the 

 infected hogs have to be destroyed. Of course this throws the loss on 

 the buyer, but many leading buyers say that such losses will soon be 

 thrown back on the seller. This disease is said to be caused many 

 times by feeding to hogs the bodies of old cows and horses that are 

 already infected with tuberculosis. The dangers from swine tuberculo- • 

 sis can no doubt be greatly lessened if breeders and feeders will take 

 the matter in hand at once. It is simply another case where the proper 

 sanitary methods become absolutely necessary in profitable hog raising. 

 I personally think that the All Father was wise when he gave us 

 hog cholera. If it were not for what most people call by that name 

 reducing the surplus you would soon be selling hogs at $3.00 per 

 cwt. Of course it is cold comfort for the man who loses the hogs to 

 reflect that he is helping hold up the market for the benefit of his 

 more fortunate brothers, but it is a Godsend to the men whose swine 

 escape the plague. 



Of course there are times when the prices of corn and pork do not 

 seem to be in the proper ratio, but generally the hog raiser has little 



