ELEVENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART XII 825 



There was an apparent one-sidedness to this competition. The Meharry 

 herd made the remarkable record of winning eleven of the sixteen first 

 ribbons put up, and five of the six championships. Only two first prizes 

 were won by Iowa breeders, and these were both on pigs under six 

 months old. 



What was perhaps the closest race for first place occurred in the class 

 for sows eighteen months old and under twenty-four. It was a good 

 string of nine, the leaders being Meharry's Violet and Wellington & 

 Spring's Walk Over's Type 3d. It was almost a case of tossing a coin 

 to determine which should wear the blue, and when the judge gave it to 

 Violet there was plenty of evidence that the other might without injustice 

 have received it. The decision was reached through an effort to balance 

 points, rather than on account of any outstanding superiority. Violet 

 was certainly a great sow (she later became grand champion), but in 

 the minds of some a slight imperfection in the manner in which she was 

 ribbed out and some incipient wrinkles on her sides were not overbalanced 

 by a faultiness of hind legs and a tendency toward plainness of head on 

 the other sow. The latter was as smooth as an apple and was in a superb- 

 ly fitted form. 



The grand champion boar, B. L.'s Perfection, was an outstanding 

 winner in the junior yearling class of boars. He had that square, well- 

 balanced build that must attract attention anywhere, and with it carried 

 smoothness and trim finish. It goes without saying that he was in the 

 very bloomiest of bloom and proud as a peacock. He was an Iowa-bred 

 hog and a descendant of both champion sows and boars at the Iowa State 

 Fair. His was a case in which blood tells. On the sire of his dam 

 he is bred much the same as Mr. Chiles' junior champion boar. 



Someone who has been a close follower of fairs for many years ex- 

 pressed surprise at the seeming faultiness of feet of practically all the 

 two younger classes of pigs. An endeavor to force a mature or finished 

 condition in a pig cannot end otherwise. J. M. Stewart, Ainsworth, Iowa, 

 acted as judge. 



CHESTER WHITES. 



The showing of Chester Whites, while a fairly good one, could not 

 have been considered as better than the ordinary. Some fine specimens 

 of the breed were in the rings and a lesser proportion of the inferior stuff 

 than appeared in most other breeds. 



Judge Stewart, in his decision en grand championships, crossed the 

 dead line and gave the grand championship boar prize to a pig which was 

 winner in a class under six months. This is a situation which judges 

 dread to have appear before them. In the present case the judge justi- 

 fied his action by stating it as his belief that this pig was the best indi- 

 vidual of any breed in the whole exhibition. 



In the Chester Whites, as in all other breeds, the phenomenal strength 

 of blood of some strains became prominent. A particular instance was 

 illustrated in the case of get of sire, which was won by the get of the 

 hog. Lewis E. The get of this hog have been winners of this prize at 



