IMPORTANCE, DISTRIBUTION, MARKETS, VALUES TI 



likewise an entirely black hog- is rather an unusual sight. 

 Santly hogs spotted with black are not uncommon, and 

 are the results, generally quite satisfactory, of inter- 

 breeding swine largely black with the reddish 13uroc- 

 Jerseys or the Tamworths. 



liy the use of pure-bred sires, particularly, the work of 

 improvement is pushed forward every year, and the 

 scrub is being steadily eliminated. This is especially 

 true in those states where swine husbandry has largest 

 recognition as a prolitaljle factor in agricultural pros- 

 {)erity. High-class agriculture comprehends high-class 

 animal husbandry, and, conversely, a shiftless agriculture 

 is satisfied with and lends countenance to a low grade of 

 farm animals. I'here is no exception to this. 



However, in spite of the constant improvement going 

 on for so long a time, there is yet ample room for 

 much more, even in those sections where advancement 

 has been most general. The reasonable explanation of 

 this, strange as it may seem, is the indifference to, or 

 failure to recognize, the benefits that accrue from the 

 persistent use of pure-bred sires, and being shiftlessly 

 content to use grades or nondescripts l)ecause of the 

 supposed saving of five or ten dollars in original cost. 

 H attention is paid at all by the owners of such stock to 

 the character of the sire (which too often is not the case) 

 a pig of some home litter, of no particular blood, breed- 

 ing, or possible prepotency, is reserved for or permitted 

 to do service, and that too under conditions and in an 

 cn\ironment adapted to making a scrub of him and like- 

 wise of his get. Persisted in, this can lead only to chaos 



