344 TYPES AND MARKET CLASSES OF LIVE STOCK 



be used on any herd. In hogs, as in other stock, the sire is at 

 least half of the herd. 



The sow may be bred when eight months old, farrowing 

 her first litter when twelve months old. If well fed and cared 

 for, she will raise two litters per year, though many breeders 

 believe that better results are obtained if the sow raises one 

 Ikfeer per year, or at most three litters in two years. The average 

 duration of pregnancy in swine is 114 days. Boars eight to 

 ten months old may be used on a few sows if they are well de- 

 veloped for their age and well fed. A mature boar will breed 

 one sow a day, or from thirty to forty sows during the breeding 

 season. 



With no other kind of live stock is there practiced so much 

 mixing of breeds and cross-breeding as in the breeding of hogs 

 for the market. It is very commonly believed that by crossing 

 a boar of one breed upon sows of another breed, more vigorous 

 and growthy offspring will result. While there is no serious 

 criticism to be made against such a method so far as the first 

 cross is concerned, it invariably happens that if this policy is 

 followed up and further crossing and mixing is resorted to, a 

 variety of shapes and colors is presented that is most unattrac- 

 tive as compared with a bunch of hogs possessing good uniform- 

 ity. In the majority of cases it will be most profitable to pick 

 out one of the standard breeds of hogs and stick to that breed 

 year after year. If this is done there need be no lack of vigor 

 in the offspring if the parent stock is selected with due care as 

 to constitution and vigor. 



