30 DISEASES OF SWINE 



tion. At the present time there are but three Poland-China Asso- 

 ciations — viz., the American, the Standard, and the National. 



Distribution of the Breed. — Without question, the Poland- 

 China is the most widely distributed breed of hogs in America 

 to-day. Their great superiority in numbers, as compared with 

 other breeds, is not as marked to-day as it was twenty years ago. 

 The Duroc-Jersey has rapidly come to the fore in the last two 

 decades, and have forced the Poland-China out of many feed lots. 

 They still possess an enormous following, however, and there are 

 perhaps as many or more Poland-Chinas to-day as at any time in 

 their history. 



The breed is particularly popular through the great Corn Belt, 

 and is to be found in the majority of feed lots in Ohio, Indiana, 

 Ilhnois, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas. The great growth of the 

 Poland-China industry in the western states is most interesting 

 history. Forty years ago Ohio was the home of the breed, and 

 any herd that could not boast of a herd leader that originated in 

 Ohio was not worthy of notice. This led to a great demand for 

 Ohio boars. The result was that the Ohio men sold all their best 

 stock to western farmers, and it was not long until all the really 

 good animals of the breed were to be found in Illinois and west of 

 the Mississippi River. It was a hard pill for the Ohio men to 

 swallow, but they were finally forced to go west and get breeding 

 stock with which to build up their own depleted herds. Later on 

 the Ohio herds again came into prominence, and became the source 

 of valuable breeding stock. To-day, however, the most advanced 

 improvement of the breed is taking place west of the Mississippi 

 River, and the eastern breeders are again going west to find the 

 most desirable breeding stock with which to head their herds. It is 

 a conservative estimate to say that there are twenty-five Poland- 

 China breeding hogs crossing the Mississippi River going east for 

 one that is crossing the same line going west. The big Poland- 

 China is decidedly a western product, and the eastern breeders 

 are being forced to adopt this type or be left behind in the progress 

 of their own breed. 



This breed owes a great amount of its popularity to the fact 

 that it was developed at a time when there was no real type of hogs 

 suited to American environments. This breed, as finally developed, 



