TYPES AND MARKET CLASSES OF LIVE STOCK 339 



There is record of one lot of 30 Poland-Chinas marketed 

 in 1870 that averaged gross 384 pounds at eleven months of 

 age, while another lot of ten of the same breed and age mar- 

 keted in that year averaged 410 pounds gross. 



The immense weights of earlier times were made possible 

 by cheap corn, by the premium paid for heavy hogs by packers 

 in those days, and by selecting hogs of great weight for breeding 

 purposes. During late years the tendency has been to market 

 handy-weight hogs, and fewer heavy hogs appear on the market 

 each year. This change has been brought about by the high 

 price of corn, by improved methods of packing which permit 

 hogs of less fatness and lighter weight to find favor with packers, 

 by the general tendency on the part of the consumer to favor 

 light cuts, and by the growing demand for bacon in place of the 

 old-fashioned, heavy, salt meats. The breeder also has played 

 a part in this change to the handy-weight market hog, by giving 

 preference to hogs of quality and smoothness over those of large 

 size and tending toward roughness and lack of quality. In 

 recent years some breeds actually deteriorated because of the 

 fact that most of the breeders went too far in the matter of 

 securing quality and refinement in their animals and failed to 

 keep up enough size and constitution to suit the practical hog 

 grower. This mistake was realized and today the effort is being 

 made to get back on safer ground by breeding for all the size 

 possible and yet maintain a proper degree of quality in the 

 animal. The ideal hog for the farmer is a medium- weight hog, 

 or a hog slightly above what would be called medium weight, 

 possessing desirable quality, smoothness, and symmetry. 



Selection of breeding stock. The points which should re- 

 ceive particular attention in selecting hogs for breeding purposes 

 are (1) size, (2) feeding capacity, (3) constitution and vigor, 

 (4) quick maturity, (5) strength of back, legs, pasterns, and 

 feet, (6) quality, (7) breeding qualities, (8) uniformity of type, 

 and (9) ancestry. 



1. Under present conditions, the most profitable stage for 

 the grower to market lard hogs is between 200 and 275 pounds. 

 Nevertheless, hogs used for breeding purposes should have 

 plenty of size combined with desirable type and early matur- 

 ity. If the breeding stock is of large size, the pigs will be 

 growthy and will attain marketable weights in quick time. The 

 cheapest gains are made during the growing period. This is 

 shown by the following compilation presented by Henry and 



