PORK PRODUCTION 



CHAPTER I 

 GENERAL VIEW 



THE important position which the hog occupies on the 

 American farm is shown by the fact that 37 per cent of 

 the world's supply of pork (not including China) is pro- 

 duced in the United States. More hogs are raised in 

 this country than in any other three countries combined, 

 and more than double the number than in any other single 

 country. 



Swine are usually most numerous in those countries in 

 which the population is relatively dense. Their geographic 

 distribution in the United States is most closely related 

 to the distribution of the acreage of Indian corn. In the 

 European countries the number follows closely the pro- 

 duction of potatoes and the number of dairy cows. 1 For 

 statistics on the distribution of swine, see Figs. 1 and 2. 



Hogs are raised in every county of the United States, 

 but about one-half is produced in the seven corn-belt 

 states, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Indiana, 

 and Ohio. North of the corn-belt proper and in the 

 eastern states, the number of hogs is largely conditioned 

 on home consumption needs and the development of the 

 dairy industry. In these districts, barley and mill feeds 



1 " Geography of the World's Agriculture," 1917, U. S. Dept. 

 Agr., Off. Farm Management. 



B 1 



