936 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



business to raise thorough-bred hogs. For to do so successfully 

 requires more time and skill than he can command, and for the 

 purpose for which he produces the hog, namely, for the butcher, 

 I believe a good high grade is better than the thorough-bred. 

 So I would advise the farmer who produces hogs for the butcher 

 to procure a pedigreed boar of the stock best suited to his pur- 

 pose, and cross on sows selected from his own herd. As choice 

 pedigreed pigs from three to five months old can be bought for 

 from ten to thirty dollars each, and one can serve quite a num- 

 ber of sows (often being sufficient for two adjoining farmers), 

 and will then in many cases sell when fattened for enough to 

 pay for the original outlay, it will be seen that no one should 

 be deterred by the expense from attempting to improve his stock 

 of hogs. I think that there are many farmers who, by a single 

 cross, could add two or three dollars per head to the value of their 

 hogs, and the expense would be less than twenty-five cents each. 



The same kind of care will be necessary in improving our 

 hogs that was used in establishing the valuable breeds we now 

 have. These breeds were made up by selecting the best and 

 breeding with a view to permanently fixing desirable points 

 which were found in these animals, and this careful and intelli- 

 gent breeding finally resulted in so fixing these points that they 

 would be reproduced with certainty, and then the animal was 

 called a through-bred. 



A farmer who is careless and neglectful may start with the 

 best of stock, and in a few generations allow them to deterio- 

 rate until they are no better than his neighbor's who has never 

 invested in improved stock. I would not advise the use of a 

 half-blood boar, even though he showed all the good points of 

 his sire, for his progeny will not be likely to give satisfaction. 

 It is certainly penny wise to use an inferior sire for our pigs, and 

 hardly just to the careful breeder to be unwilling to pay him a 

 fair price for his stock. If we will but consider how long and 

 difficult would be the task of building up and establishing the 

 valuable qualities which our best breeds of hogs possess, we 

 ehall feel that something is due these men for the service they 

 have rendered the farmer. 



