3:o(3-s. 



The Best Kind for Profitable Raising, etc. — No matter ho"W 

 much the doctors may say against eating pork, it will always be eaten, 

 and I am among the number who like my pork and beans, as well as 

 ham and eggs, the ham part being nice and tender to begin with, and has 

 been nicely cured, smoked, etc. I always expect to eat some of them as 

 long as I may live, and it being the same with many, very many others, 

 I will try to give a few ideas that shall benefit the others, to obtain the best 

 breeds, how to prevent or cure their diseases, manner of feeding, etc., to tha 

 best possible profit. And as I desire to be as short as possible, I can not 

 cover the point as to the difference in breeds, and as to their value in the 

 markets, easier than to quote from the Western Rural upon these questions. 

 It says : 



Raising Hogs.— Which the Most Profitable.— "Did our farmer 

 readers ever take a slate and pencU in an evening and estimate the difference 

 between a good and poor breed of hogs? The increasing demand for ham 

 and lard in all parts of the world shows that hogs that yield largely 

 of these profitable parts are in demand. The consequence is there is a range 

 in the market at this time at St. Louis, from $4.50 to $7.50, and at Chicago, 

 from $4 to $7, showing a difference of three per cent, in favor of the good 

 hog. Nor is this all. While the improved breeds of hogs can be made as 

 easily and with equal food to average at 15 months old 350 pounds, as the 

 ' greaser ' hog will 175 pounds. Or a little better hog will 225 poimds. If 

 a farmer has 50 head of the latter class to sell now, he will get, at $4 per 

 cwt., $1,125. If he has 50 ' greasers,' which are too numerous in this coimtry 

 yet, he will get $700. But if he has 50 of the best Poland-China, Suffolk, 

 Berkshire, etc., which have cost no more, and which have rendered a large 

 amount of satisfaction, he will receive $2,450. These are figures that can- 

 not be disputed, and are within the reach of every farmer who has 160 acres 

 of land in cultivation. The number, weight, or price is not overestimated." 



Remarks. — Remarks are almost absolutely out of the question, for figures 

 don't lie, and there are too many whose experience have given them the $700, 

 instead of the $1,125, or the $2,450. Don't do it again, is all that is neces» 

 riary to add. As to feeding, etc., see that head. On the question of the best 

 breeds, I will quote from a writer in the Rural World, of St. Louis, Mo., 

 who gives the following reasons for his preference of the Berkshires, over aii 

 others. He says- 



Berkshires the Best.— " While at St. Louis, I took a good deal of 

 pains to study the tastes of the packers as the breed of hogs. I could 



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