John Hammond 



401 



a greater part m pii;i;s of smaller weight; this is not the main reason 

 however which is probably due to the fact that the 3 mouths old pigs 

 have not been weaned early but forced through, whereas the 5 months 

 ones have often been weaned early and some may possibly have had a 

 short store period. 



lOr 



» 7 - 



Fig. 1 



5 7 9. n 



Jlonths old 

 Rate of Growth — Live Weight — lbs. per week since birth. 

 Average of i! breeds (Berkshire and Middle White). 



The maximum rate of growth in these two breeds appear to be made 

 at 9 months old but if reference is made to Table II for the Live Classes 

 and Table V for the Carcase Classes it will be seen that breeds vary 

 greatly at which the maximum rate is attained: the Large White and 

 Large Black attaining their maximum at 7 months. It is notable that 

 although the pork type of pig (Middle White, Berkshire) appears to reach 

 the maximum growth later than the bacon type (Large White and Large 

 Black) yet the decline in rate of growth of the latter is not so great 

 between the ages of 9-11 months as it is in the former. 



Since Uve weight growth is the sum of the growth of various organs 

 and tissues in the body it does not necessarily follow that the rate of 

 increase of meat is most at this time. The differences in rate of increase 

 between the Carcase and Live Classes (shown in Fig. 1) which become 

 greater as the pigs get older lead one to believe that the growth at this 

 stage (9 montks) consists mainly of fat. 



