216 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



of supposed hog cholera the past year in the State. I there- 

 fore judge there is comparatively little of it. We do occa- 

 sionally hear of a case which is said to be hog cholera. 



The Chairman. Here is another question from the box: 

 "Do black teeth in young pigs do any harm?" I should 

 say they do. Let them be pulled out. What does Mr. 

 Louis say? 



Mr. Louis. My experience with black teeth in pigs is 

 very small, but the answer is correctly given, if they do 

 tiny harm. My observation is this: that it is not really 

 the black teeth that do harm, but it is the tooth that has 

 grown sidewise and touches cither the upper or lower 

 gum, and when the animal eats it cuts the gums, and the 

 trouble is often laid to black teeth. Now, if that is the 

 fact, do as the chairman says, — pull them out ; and, if it 

 is a tooth that grows sidewise and cuts the gums, pull that 

 out too. 



Question. Will Mr. Louis tell us what breeds or 

 crosses of breeds of hogs arc the most profitable in 

 Wisconsin? 



Mr. Louis. When the question of breeds comes up, we 

 arrive at a large question ; but when we come to crosses 

 of breeds, I do not believe in cross-bred pigs for breeding 

 purposes. We may take a certain cross as a feeder. Say, 

 for instance, take a large breed, like the. Poland Chinas or 

 the Chester Whites, and cross them with the Berkshire or 

 any of the smaller breeds, and you will get a better feeder ; 

 but here the cross must stop. I do not think we are ever 

 successful in crossing breeds. In the West, the larger 

 the breed the better the hog ; because we must now put 

 him on the market at eight or nine months of age, weighing 

 two hundred and fifty pounds, and it takes a large breed 

 of hogs to do this. I think our breeders are making a 

 great mistake. Breeders are moulding and fashioning the 

 hog at the present day for beauty, at the expense of its 

 constitutional strength. We need a hog of considerable 

 size, when its offspring must make the growth that I have 

 stated in so short a time. 



The Chairman'. I would like now to call upon one of 

 the graduates of the Agricultural College at Amherst, Mr. 

 C. L. Marshall of Lowell. 



