22 DISEASES OF SWINE 



ment. The hog should stand firmly and yet easily upon all four 

 feet. The pastern joints should be firm and well formed, the 

 weight easily carried on the toes, and movement should be at once 

 easy and graceful. When the hog moves, the hind feet should be 

 carried forward in a straight fine with those in front, and the gait 

 should be easy and comfortable. 



Disposition of the animal is also a very important point, from 

 the standpoint both of breeding and of fattening. An irritable 

 or vicious sow is never a good breeder. She is usually difficult to 

 serve, hard to impregnate, and carries her litter poorly. At farrow- 

 ing time she is hard to manage, and frequently will trample or 

 viciously destroy her entire litter of pigs. This class of sows can 

 never be used profitably in the breeding pens, regardless of how 

 desirable they may be in other ways. For fattening purposes 

 they are equally undesirable, as they keep up a continuous fighting 

 with other animals in the feed lot, and in this manner not only 

 keep themselves in poor condition, but prevent the proper develop- 

 ment of other hogs as well. The desirable hog is one that has a 

 quiet, docile disposition, and yet, at the same time, has sufficient 

 action and energy to get about and exercise sufficiently to maintain 

 perfect health and proper function of the body. An overplethoric 

 sow is usually a poor breeder, and, on account of being so lazy, 

 does not give a nourishing milk, and digestive disorders in the 

 litter are very common. 



THE BACON TYPE OF HOG 



In the export trade there is a constantly growing demand for 

 a lean type of bacon. The fat sides of bacon produced by the 

 lard type of hog, as represented by the Polands and Berkshires, 

 do not meet with favor across the water. American packers, 

 however, are loath to pay a higher price for this type of hogs, 

 and this fact has in large measure prevented the development 

 to any great extent of the bacon hog in this country, as the 

 lard breeds are more rapid gainers in weight and show a better 

 profit. 



Bacon breeds are somewhat on the increase, however, and 

 especially so in the Southern States, where an earnest effort is 

 being made to build up the hog-producing industry. These bacon 



