3Y 



Four pigs of a litter are taken for a feeding test. Only average pigs are used. The 

 price allowed is 10 kroners (about $2.65) each, half of which is paid by the experiment 

 station and half by the local co-operative packing association. The pigs are delivered 

 at eight weeks old. Each group is fed the same mixture according to age, a careful 

 record being kept of the whole work. At each station a feeding master is engaged, his 

 duties being to weigh the exact quantity given each group and to look after the details 

 of the feeding. The groups are regularly weighed. At stated intervals a representa- 

 tive of the department calls, weighs the pigs and takes samples of the food for chemical 

 analj'sis. The food is weighed out daily, mixed with skim-milk or whey and divided 

 into three meals. It is given as a slop, slightly sour from fermentation. Feeding is 

 done at certain hours, three times daily, as much being given as satisfies the appetite 

 and no more. The temperature of the air, outside and in the piggery, and of the food 

 is taken three times daily, and for groups of about the same age the temperature is 

 made as uniform as possible. 



As the pigs reach suitable weights for the market they are delivered and slaught- 

 ered at a packing house, and when the carcasses have cooled they are thoroughly 

 examined by an expert committee in regard to conformation, taking into account 

 length and evenness of back and sides, thickness of fat and lean, smoothness of 

 shoulder, thickness of belly, form of ham, and firmness of meat. The judging is done 

 in a manner much the same as is followed at the several Canadian Winter Fairs. 

 On another page an illustration appears showing a number of carcasses suspended for 

 judgment. These were examined by the Commission and photographed by the secre- 

 tary at a packing house at Ringsted. The expert judges consist of managers of 

 slaughter houses, slaughter house inspectors and a representative of the Department 

 of Agriculture attached to the laboratory of agricultural experiments. 



The ultimate object of the feeding test and the judging of carcasses is to determine 

 the breeding quality of the dams at the breeding centres. The record of each group 

 during their career at the feeding station, together with the reports of the carcass 

 judges are traced back to the respective dam and sire, which are valued accordingly. 

 A sow that falls below a required standard as shown by her offspring, is condemned 

 for breeding purposes and sent to the block. As a result of this, one of the stations 

 visited has twenty-six breeding sows, all descended from the same dam. 



Summary of Experiments. 



The results of feeding and killing tests over the whole country, as summarized 

 by the Department of Agriculture, shows that, comparisons between a large number 

 of the pigs of the Yorkshire breed, pigs of the domestic breed and cross breds, between. 

 sows of the domestic breed and boars of the Yorkshire breed, have shown that the 

 Yorkshire animals use less food for the production of one pound of pork than the 

 cross breds, and these again slightly less than the domestic breed. 



As to quality, an even number of pounds of live weight of the Yorkshire breed 

 has given a larger amount of export bacon and less loss in killing, also higher points 

 in the judging than the domestic breed. The cross breds stand much similar to the 

 Yorkshire breed. 



In the case of the domestic breed, considerable difference is found among the 

 groups, but by collecting these groups in generations it has been found possible to 

 judge each line of the generations, and in nearly every case there has been an indica- 

 tion that the consumption of food to one pound of growth is on the decrease from 

 generation to generation. 



The percentage of loss in killing is decreasing and the percentage of export bacon 

 is increasing from generation to generation. 



In giving points for the quality of bacon, etc., a decided improvement has been 

 found from one generation to the following. 



