EIGHTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART X. 573 



watching is length. I find some breeders forgetting that the red hog is 

 one of generous length. Little dumpy brood sows are never satisfactory, 

 and they are out of place in this breed. I should avoid the other extreme 

 of breeding for length until I had a herd of hard feeders on my hands. 

 I should maintain as much length as I could do with quick response to 

 generous feeding. 



After these elemental things have been settled the breeder may turn 

 his attention to color, eye, ear and tail; and in what I say about fancy 

 points let it be remembered that I assume that these primary things are 

 kept first in importance. 



It is difficult to describe a color. We can do it only by comparison, 

 and then it is seldom accurate. The color which has proved to be the 

 most satisfactory to the majority of red hog breeders is a rich glistening 

 brilliant red. The standard calls for a "cherry red," but cherry red is 

 a very dark red, darker indeed than the generally approved Duroc- Jersey 

 color. Sometimes one hears it said, under a misapprehension, that the 

 approved, standard color is cherry. Now there is a difference between 

 cherry and cherry red. Cherry is a light red and cherry red is a dark 

 red. Neither one is the ideal Duroc-Jersey color. It is rather between 

 the two, but whatever the distinctions, it is to be borne In mind that 

 the color is not yellow, nor buff, nor straw, nor brown, but red. The 

 Duroc-Jersey is a red hog. In a color like red, which is bound to vary 

 even with the most careful breeding, the tastes of breeders diverge 

 somewhat, but it will be found that the safest, soundest and most 

 attractive color, and the one most in demand, is a medium rich red. The 

 breeder that sticks to that color will always find himself on sure ground, 

 and his stock will be in demand if it is meritorious in other respects. 



The head of a fancy Duroc-Jersey is rather small, wide between the 

 eyes, slightly dished (a little more than the Poland-China and less than 

 the Berkshire), heavy jowl, large eyes and tapering nose. The ear is 

 rather small, pointing outward from the head and drooping downward 

 from about one-third the length of the ear from the point. It is true 

 that this sort of an ear is a rather distinguishing mark of the breed and 

 should be maintained when it can be done without sacrificing more 

 important things. The head (including the ear) indicates the nervous 

 quality of the hog and so is an index of its power of assimilation. The 

 Duroc-Jersey with an ideal head is always an easy feeder. 



Finally I want to say that the red hog breeders should keep in lively 

 remembrance the fact that the final test of any breed of hogs is its market 

 value. If it fails to be valuable to the men who grow the world's pork 

 it is doomed, no matter how elegant and fine it may be. Hobbies in 

 breeding are things to fight shy of. The show room and the sale room 

 have their dangers. Daintiness, smoothness, beauty can be had sometimes 

 at too great a cost of virility. The Duroc-Jersey is a wonderfully virile, 

 prolific, useful hog, but it may be injured by its friends. Never sacrifice 

 the elemental things to the mere fancy, though fancy points are all right 

 if the foundation on which they are built is sound. 



