206 "THE NATIONAL SWINE GROWERS' ASSOCIATION 



the breeds in all of the shows, with a resulting harmony of effort 

 that has advanced the purebred industry and the showring to a 

 plane that neither had ever before enjoyed. 



The annual meeting of the association in 1916 was held at the 

 Fort Dearborn Hotel in Chicago on Dec. 4. Two hundred and 

 thirty-nine sat at dinner that evening. There is no question that 

 there had never previously been so large or representative a gather- 

 ing of men interested in America's swine husbandry, and all were 

 enthusiastic over the accomplishments of the association, especially 

 over the initial National Swine Show. The discussions of the 

 evening outlined many of the fields of endeavor for the association 

 in broadening the swine industry. It was at this meeting that the 

 suggestion was first publicly made for the employment of a man to 

 devote his entire time to the interests of swinemen an idea that 

 crystallized twelve months later. 



The officers in 1916 were unanimously chosen to continue their 

 duties through 1917, thus leaving in office President W. M. Mc- 

 Fadden, Vice-President J. Young Caldwell, Secretary James J. 

 Doty and Treasurer George M. Cantrall. The 1917 executive com- 

 mittee was selected as follows : For Poland-Chinas, H. Wade 

 Gillis, Mt. Pleasant, la.; for Duroc-Jerseys, W. H. VanMeter, 

 Williamsville, 111. ; for Berkshires, C. F. Curtiss, Ames, la. ; for 

 Chester Whites, Fred H. Moore, Rochester, Ind. ; for Hampshires, 

 Willie Essig, Tipton, Ind.; for Spotted Poland-Chinas, Fred L. 

 Obenchain, Bainbridge, Ind. ; for Mulef oots, John H. Dunlap, 

 Williamsport, 0. ; for Tamworths, J. B. Mackoy, Farrugut, la. ; for 

 Large Yorkshires, B. F. Davidson, Menlo, la. 



The Association early announced that the National Swine Show 

 for 1917 would be held in the same quarters as the event in 1916, 

 with such additions as might be required. The dates were set as 

 Oct. 3-10, inclusive, thus including a Sunday in the middle of the 

 show week a move made to bring out a large attendance of town- 

 folk on that day. The idea did not bring the desired result, how- 

 ever, and was abandoned the following year. In July the show 

 committee W. M. McFadden, L. E. Frost and E. C. Stone met 

 with the various recording association secretaries, and compiled the 

 rules that were to govern the show in 1917, and the report of that 

 meeting was widely published. A students' judging contest was 

 planned at this meeting, and N. M. Gordon of Chicago was made 

 chairman of the committee in charge, his co-workers being Ray 

 Davis and R. L. (''Bob") Hill. Subsequently this event proved to 

 be one of the real features of the show. 



The stage for the second national was well set, and the number 

 of entries exceeded those of 1916 by over a hundred head and the 

 quality, uniformity and type of the animals presented offered elo- 

 quent evidence of the influence of the show of the preceding year. 

 There was far less divergence in type and a considerably greater 

 uniformity in the pens that year, and the judging was again of the 

 kind more firmly to set the best standards of breed development. 

 The attendance at the show was a disappointment to the officials 

 although the earlier days showed a sharp advance over the figures 



