268 RURAL CALIFORNIA 



War there was a powerful propaganda for larger 

 local pork production; the promotion of pig clubs 

 among school children stimulated popular interest 

 in the animal and the organization of growers' sales 

 by the farm bureaus in various counties showed the 

 way for better selling, which has always been essen- 

 tial to encouragement of producers, but the business 

 has been handicapped by high cost of production 

 which average selling prices did not adequately recom- 

 pense. In spite of this deterrence, however, the inter- 

 est in pure-bred swine has been greatly stimulated 

 and the general quality of the product has been 

 advanced. The number of hogs in California in 1920 

 was slightly less than in 1919, when the peak in num- 

 bers was reached. 



The geographical distribution of the swine indus- 

 try has naturally followed the leadership of the dairy 

 industry in its movement toward the great irrigated 

 valleys of the interior where alfalfa is supreme and 

 the growth of grain also most abundant. The ten 

 counties leading in swine production are Imperial 

 (which has nearly twice as many as any other), 

 Kings, Tulare, Fresno, Merced, Los Angeles, Colusa, 

 Yolo, San Joaquin and Stanislaus. All these coun- 

 ties are in Region 4 except Los Angeles which is in 

 Region 3, as defined in Chapter I. There is, how- 

 ever, a distance of about five hundred miles between 

 the extremes of the counties named and the swine 

 industry is very widely distributed over the State. 

 The basic factors of profitable pork production are 

 alfalfa pasturage, skim-milk and barley. 



