934 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



market at his door every day in the year for all the hogs he 

 can produce. 



Recent statistics show over thirty-six millions of hogs in the 

 United States, with an aggregate value of more than one hun- 

 dred and seventy millions of dollars. The highest average value 

 of hogs is usually found among the truck or dairy farmers, who 

 keep but few, and the lowest in the newer States, or where 

 there has been little improvement in farming. In 1876, when 

 Coburn wrote his work on " Swine Husbandry," he found the 

 highest average value per head in Massachusetts, $18.03, and 

 the lowest in Arkansas, $3.31. Nine States at that time pro- 

 duced about two-thirds of all the hogs in the country; viz., 

 Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky, Ohio, Georgia, Ten- 

 nessee, and Pennsylvania. The highest average value in these 

 States was in Pennsylvania, $11.50 each, and the lowest in 

 Georgia, $3.91 each. 



In 1877, which was a year of low prices, I examined the 

 assessors' returns in my own State (Ohio), to see whether 

 in the counties that had paid most attention to the improve- 

 ment of hogs they were valued higher for purposes of taxa- 

 tion. I found the entire number of hogs to exceed two mill- 

 ions, with an average assessed value of $3.77 per head. In 

 five counties viz., Warren, Butler, Lake, Clarke, and Ross 

 the average value was over $5.50 per head, or $1.75 per head 

 more than the average for the entire State. These, with the 

 exception of Lake, are among the largest hog-producing coun- 

 ties in the State, the four averaging over forty thousand 

 each. Lake County reported only three thousand hogs, and the 

 high value given them is due to the fact that they were kept up 

 and fed largely on slop, as milk and potatoes are the principal 

 products of this county. The other counties named are noted 

 for their improved hogs, and Warren and Butler, especially, as 

 having originated the Poland China. The lowest valuation in 

 the State was in Wood County, and was $1.43 per head. 



Notwithstanding the ravages of hog cholera, the production 

 of pork has shown a steady increase in this country, as will be 

 seen by an examination of the following table: 



