86 SWINE IX AMERICA 



taken fur a bad disposition. At certain periods the boar 

 is naturally a restless animal, and then he requires more 

 than the ordinarily judicious management, the lack of 

 which may make him an intractable, uneasy or vicious 

 creature, but in the mature animal this is likely to be de- 

 \eloped one way or the other so that his disposition may 

 be judged with measurable correctness. 



SELECT THE BOAR AT HIS HOME 



The best place to select a boar is at his home on the 

 farm, where he will be found in accustomed surroundings 

 and in everyday dress. Here a far better estimate may 

 be made of his merits and defects and his family char- 

 acteristics than under the dress parade glare and mani- 

 curing" of an exhibition, or the artificial conditions sur- 

 rounding and in an auction sale ring. His disposition and 

 that of his caretaker, which are of importance, may here 

 be observed, and an idea gained of the methods and man- 

 agement in his bringing up. Not a few buyers are 

 willing to pay a larger price for an animal in show con- 

 dition, but this is not always wisdom. An abundance 

 of fat may conceal serious defects which would be 

 quickly noticeable in an animal in breeding condition. 

 As a rule it will be found less expensi\e to put a hog ni 

 show condition, if that is desired, than to pay others 

 for doing it. The average breeder, too, lacks the skill 

 to safely reduce an overfed boar, pampered and fitted 

 for the show circuit, to a condition and form for great- 

 est usefulness in a herd, and attempt to do so may result 

 only in impotence or incfficienc}'' for the season, if not 



