CHAPTER XXV 

 HOG PRODUCTION 



HOG production, as a farm enterprise, depends for its 

 success upon the prospects for continued market demand and 

 upon the capacity of the particular farm to furnish sufficient 

 grain and forage for economical feeding. 



Market demand. In normal times, pork consitutes more 

 than one-half of the meat produced in the United States. It 

 is the chief source of meat and fat for a considerable portion 

 of the population. Before the Great War (1910-1914) an 

 average of 900,000,000 pounds was exported annually after 

 home demands were satisfied. In 1917, 1,417,000,000 pounds 

 were exported. The foreign demand for our pork will doubt- 

 less continue much beyond the years immediately following 

 the war period, while home consumption is likely to increase 

 as the necessity for food conservation grows less. 



Conditions favorable to hog production. The hog re- 

 produces more rapidly and gains weight at less expense 

 than any other meat animal. But in order to make the most 

 of these two characteristics an abundance of feed is neces- 

 sary. The first essential for successful hog production on a 

 farm is to provide plenty of concentrates, such as corn, for 

 feed. It is also desirable to have some leguminous forage 

 crop, such as clover, to balance the ration and to reduce the 

 cost. Hog production should succeed on any farm where 

 corn can be raised cheaply. It is significant that the greatest 



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