• FIFTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART I. 17 



of Roscoe, Illinois, who will read a paper, entitled "Swine 

 Breeding." 



Before reading his paper, Mr. Lovejoy said : You have all 

 listened to a very elegant paper on cattle feeding and breeding; 

 also one on the breeding of draft horses, and I suppose it was 

 necessary to have some one to defend the hog, and you had to 

 send clear over to Illimois for him. 



SWINE BREEDING. 



f 



A.J. LOVHJOY, ROSCOE, ILLINOIS. 



Swine breeding is not a very high sounding name, and many there are 

 who look upon this species of farm animals with disfavor if n-ot with absolute 

 disgust, yet the hog is known over the entire world and is confined to no one 

 part in particular. He is the animal which the ancient sacrificed to the 

 Godess of the Harvest (Ceres). He is also, as the Irishman said " The gentle- 

 man that pays the rent." 



The utility of the hog is in a great measure owing to its remarkable 

 fecundity, reproducing at one year of age and bearing from five to ten at a 

 time and often more. Some statistician who handles figures with great 

 ability, has estimated the produce of a single sow with only six young at a 

 time in ten generations to amount to the grand total of six million five hun- 

 dred thousand (6,500,000). This number will no doubt equal the statistics 

 of the American hen as given by the ardent advocates of her producing 

 quality. It takes a great statistician to get ahead of a hen crank. 



MONEY IN HOGS. 



The hog has been a reliable source of revenue on the American farm 

 since the earliest recollection of man. In olden times the small farmer and 

 early settler raised but a few, and the mechanic or laboring man of the vil- 

 lage as well as the Irishman on the section each had his pig to consume the 

 refuse of the kitchen and dairy and to supply the family with good old fash- 

 ioned pork and sausage, as well as spare-rib and head-cheese, and at the 

 present day the up to date American hog, supplies in his various products 

 the wants of the people of the civilized world, not only with choice bacon and 

 hams, but with lard, illuminating and lubricating oils, sausage, souse, 

 combs, brushes, buttons, knife handles and ornaments of many kinds. 

 Even the blood, a portion of the bone and waste scraps of meat, uot other- 

 wise used, is manufactured into by-products to be used as feed, among which 

 are blood-meal, bone-meal and tankage, which latter is one of the best feeds 

 yet discovered to combine with corn meal and other fat forming feeds for 

 the use of pork production; coming as near making a balanced ration when 

 used in proportion of 75 to 80 per cent corn meal and from 20 to 25 per cent 

 tankage, as can be found. You will note by this that there is no waste in 

 the slaughter of swine at the present day, that after he has passed through 

 one of the great killing and curing establishments at Chicago, there is prac- 

 tically nothing lost in the process but the squeal. Some people do not like 

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