228 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
pedigree as to a deed in buying land. If it is not recorded he 
ought to be told so. We get many complaints of this kind. It is 
a Yevy easy thing to avoid by just a little business attention." 
This closed the discussion on this subject and tlie folowing paper 
on "What the Packer Wants/' by W. C. Agar, Des Moines, Iowa, 
was read by the Secretary, ]\Ir. Agar not being able to be present : 
The packer's desires are regulated by his wish to give the public their 
meat food products in such shape and condition as are the more at- 
tractive and readily salable, and he cannot be guided altogether by what 
would actually, from a dollars and cents point of view, be always the 
most profitable kind of hogs to buy. The public must have, and has 
first consideration. It would at first sight, therefore, rather appear that 
what the packer wants might not be altogether what the breeder would 
find it always the most profitable to raise if he be looking for quick re- 
turns, viz., a hardy, big-boned, tough animal capable of piling on lots 
of flesh as cheaply and quickly as possible, to which end I am sorry 
to think most breeders are now working. I would take this opportunity 
to remind these engaged in raising swine that the better they can please 
the public is the kind and quality of pork put on the market and dis- 
played for sale, that just so mucn more will the consumption of this 
meat increase compared with other meats; beef, mutton, etc., and 
this should be, of course, of the utmost importance to those iilterested 
in swine raising. The prosperity of our country has put the working 
man, who is the great consumer of pork, in a very different position 
from that occupied some few years ago when financially he was not so 
well off and was unable to buy what suited his palate, as he is today. 
The public at large are able to buy what they desire and will not be satis- 
fied with coarse fat pork, or indeed, rough meat of any kind. This is 
no doubt readily realized by the larger number of hog breeders who 
have for some time been turning their attention to developing an animal, 
the fiesh of which v^ould be so attractive and palatable as to very largely 
increase the consumption of pork, both cured and fresh. Those who have 
not yet given this matter the attention it deserves would do well to be- 
gin to do so without delay or further waste of time, for the future 
benefit, at least, of themselves and all others concerned. 
Values of live stock, the same as other commodities are, as you know, 
regulated by supply and demand. If the demand for any given article 
can be increased, as it undoubtedly can for pork products, with the proper 
kind of attention, values will naturally increase and be higher than when 
the demand is at a minimum. 
The type of hog most desired is that giving the greatest percentage 
of meat and lard, and the least quantity of offal and small meats (heads, 
feet, bone, etc.) As to weight, speaking in a general way, I would con- 
sider a hog around two hundred and fifty pounds in good condition, of 
course, the more attractive from a slaughterer's point of view. The 
young animal is preferred to an old one on account of the flesh being 
more tender and of better flavor. Firmness of both lean and fat are 
to be desired, and in this connection it seems to me a diet composed 
