8 Pork Production 



good market by selling early or of feeding to heavier 

 weights when the prospects of a better market are 

 good. In the case of steers and lambs, the situation 

 is entirely different. A variation of $1.00 to $1.50 a 

 hundredweight in the selling price of cattle due to 

 variation in finish or condition is common ; in the case 

 of lambs also the variation in price is such that the feeder 

 is restricted to a very narrow range of time and weight 

 in marketing. 



6. The market value of old sows which have done 

 service in the breeding herd is higher than it is for cows 

 or ewes. Heavy packing sows sell during the fall within 

 50 to 75 cents of the top of the market for prime fat 

 barrows, according to pre-war quotations, and during 

 the spring from 25 to 50 cents of the top. On the same 

 markets the difference in price between choice to prime 

 cows and the top for fat steers would exceed $3.00, and 

 between choice ewes and prime fed lambs the spread 

 would be $3.00 or more. Although sows are subject to 

 a dock in some markets of twenty to forty pounds, fre- 

 quently they sell for more after finishing a long career 

 in the breeding herd than they cost at the beginning. 

 This is an item of no small importance in the more eco- 

 nomical production of pork. 



7. The necessary equipment for the successful handling 

 of a herd of hogs is not extensive nor expensive. This is 

 particularly true when early pigs are not attempted. 

 Suitable shelter must be provided for early-farrowing 

 sows, but it need not be of a kind which would mean a 

 burdensome overhead expense. Hogs are more susceptible 

 to extreme heat than any other farm animal, but the cost 

 of appropriate shades is little more than the time required 

 to erect them. 



