39 



BULLETIN OF 



Massachusetts Boakd of Agriculture. 



PORK MAKING FOR MASSACHUSETTS FARMERS. 



A long-neglected industry loromises rich returns under modern 



methods. 



Dr. Geo. M. Twitchell, Auburx, Me. 



Among all the specific lines of farm work, whether cropping or 

 breeding, none is more stable or certain to return a generous per 

 cent, year hy year, upon the outlay, than pork making, yet through- 

 out Massachusetts no branch of agriculture is so much neglected. 



Here and there single individuals, or corporations, have engaged 

 in the business, but all the while we face the fact that the State 

 does not produce pork products sufficient yearly for one week's 

 supply for its own inhabitants. 



"What is true in Massachusetts holds throughout New England. 

 All the while men are running here and there searching after some 

 avenue into which energies may be directed and success insured. 



We have passed out of the era of low prices for any meat prod- 

 uct, and with our steadily increasing population there is no prospect 

 of any i^ermanent reduction below present standards. For these 

 reasons it is perfectly safe to figure the industry upon the prices 

 of 1911 and be certain that fluctuations will insure just as good 

 an average, and probably better. AVith these fundamental facts 

 recognized, surprise increases as one contemplates, on the one 

 hand, the possible sure returns, and the almost total lack of recog- 

 nition of the same by the rural inhabitant, on the other. 



Modern Methods a Necessity. 

 The greatest stumbling block in the pathway of the average man 

 who contemplates the possibilities of pork production is the old- 

 fashioned pigsty. Habit is so exacting that its full force can hardly 



