No. 4.] SWINE BREEDING AND FEEDING. 193 



delineate upon the canvas the perfect form of an animal, but 

 it is different with the breeder, — he has to content himself 

 with evolution. He has to contend with variations, he has 

 to contend with heredity ; and it is ever a study for the 

 breeder to mould and form an animal according to his ideal, 

 and to feed for profit. What is a profitable hog? Let me 

 use the plain Western term " hog." It is one that consumes 

 the greatest amount of food in the shortest time, and srives 

 us the greatest return for the food consumed. And this is 

 the only animal I shall deal with this morning. I have 

 lectured in the State of Minnesota. I was first brought upon 

 the platform because I was a practical man, and you need 

 not expect of me an eloquent lecture ; you will only receive 

 practical instruction in the methods by which I conduct my 

 own operations. I am very sorry that I have not here the 

 drawings of my animals and of my stables and fixtures. I 

 received a letter yesterday morning from superintendent 

 Gregg of the Minnesota Farmers' Institute Association, say- 

 ing that they had been shipped by the American Express 

 Company on the 27th ultimo ; but they are not here yet, so 

 I shall have to do without them. I am in the habit of having 

 object lessons with me when I address an audience. I 

 believe that through object lessons we can express our ideas 

 far better than by language. 



The breeding of swine must necessarily commence with a 

 good sire. . I do not know what the farmers of Massachusetts 

 are doing, but I can tell you what the farmers of the West 

 are doing. The average farmer of the West — I say the 

 average farmer of the West, not the intelligent farmer — 

 gets his sire wherever he can with the least trouble and 

 expense (and I believe you have lots of that kind of men in 

 Massachusetts) , and he does not know that such a sire is the 

 dearest animal he ever bought. At the present day, when 

 the breeders have for sale thousands of each of all the 

 different breeds of swine, and when the competition is so 

 great, it costs but little to get a thoroughbred or a pure- 

 bred sire at the head of a herd. Another mistake which is 

 often made is in purchasing a sire in the immediate neigh- 

 borhood, and the first thing the farmer knows he is in-breed- 

 ing; while, if he would purchase of a reliable breeder at a 



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