328 HINTS ON SELECTION, CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF SWINE. 



that, until buyers can be educated up to the point of appreciating the 

 superior value of lean pork over fat, it will hardly pay to put any extra 

 expense into hog feeding to obtain this large proportion of lean meat. 

 The health of the animal is of prime importance, and we may be par- 

 doned for saying that herein lies the great value to the farmer of the 

 lesson drawn from Professor Henry's experiments. It is a fact, as stated 

 above, that corn is not a good food-stuff for exclusive feeding, and the 

 experiments by the Professor seem to show the reason. Corn is defi- 

 cient in protein, and is not, therefore, a good food, unless supplemented 

 by something richer in this element. The remarks by Mr. T. G. Terry, 

 before the Indiana Swine Breeders' Association, Indianapolis, Ind., 

 January, 1888, illustrate very aptly the exact place filled by the results 

 of these experiments, and we quote his statements in full as reported in 

 the Breeders' Gazette of February ist, 1888: 



"I have made a good many experiments in feeding, commencing back in 1869, an d 

 have tried different plans, and last fall I made the most successful experiment in feeding 

 for lean for my own pork. When I killed one of the pigs (a cross-bred Cheshire-Poland- 

 China), it happened to be just the time Professor Henry's experiments were published, 

 and I will say that taking the center cut of the ham it did not have fat enough to fry it. 

 The pig was six months old, and dressed 135 Ibs. I fed it on oats, bran and shorts, and 

 nothing else (no milk), and the verdict of those who ate the pork was that it was the 

 nicest and juiciest ever put into their mouths. I am feeding all my pigs intended for 

 family pork in that way. It may cost more, but for our own eating we can afford it." 



This last statement contains the milk of the cocoanut. It may cost 

 more, undoubtedly does cost more, to feed protein than to feed starch ; 

 the thinking, reasoning farmer will, .therefore, feed just such propor- 

 tion of this valuable ingredient as will bring highest returns in gross 

 weight, and no more since the buyer will pay no more for lean meat 

 than for fat ; but when it comes to feeding for the home barrel, we can 

 afford to put a little extra expense into the feed in order to produce an 

 extra amount of that richest of all meats, lean pork. 



We had no idea of writing an essay on the feeding of swine. The 

 reader can obtain more valuable information from the statements of 

 actual methods pursued by such men as are represented in the letters 

 given below, and we must beg pardon for thus wandering so far from 

 our intention in the preceding discussion. We may, however, state 

 briefly a few points, as an aid in the selection of breeding stock, and 

 trust the reader will find something of interest, if not of profit, in their 

 perusal. 



The boar is by all odds the most important, if not the largest, half 

 of the herd, and his selection should be made with the greatest care. 

 We do not propose to give any advice as to breed from which he should 

 be selected; there area good many breeds, and from the preceding 

 chapters under Part Fourth, the reader may obtain that which will aid 

 in choosing a breed best suiting his own peculiar conditions. But it may 



