41 



another and each one watched to see that it is not eaten too close. 

 Of course the amount of ground demanded will be determined by 

 the number of hog's kept, but this process of supplying the most 

 healthful and cheapest food possible is so simple that it must com- 

 mend itself to every would-be pork maker. March pigs grown in this 

 way should be ready for market in October, requiring only enough 

 grain to be carried along steadily, and finally finished in short 

 order for the early market. For this finishing, corn and pumpkins, 

 grown alongside the paddocks, constitute the best and most economi- 

 cal food to be obtained, reducing cost of production and labor of 

 feeding to the lowest dollar, while insuring a quality of product 

 impossible to mature in close pens or with swill-fed animals. There 

 is good evidence in support of the claim that one has but to estab- 

 lish himself in this industry, by some such plan as here outlined, 

 freeing his stock entirely from the old-time methods of pigsty or 

 barn-cellar growing, and advertising a healthy product made only on 

 forage croios, in open pastures with home-grown grain, in order to 

 insure a permanent market at advanced prices. The absolute 

 purity and cleanliness of the product, and freedom from all pos- 

 sible taint of impure surroundings and stale swill feed, will attract 

 buyers. It will be understood here as everywhere that an abundance 

 of fresh water must be available at all times, and if possible it is 

 best to equip a field in close proximity to a brook or within easy 

 access of a water supply. In this way the labor item during the 

 growing season is practically eliminated. The best cure for disease 

 is prevention, and that will practically be insured by the plan here 

 outlined. Disease lurks in filth or is carried in decayed food. Fresh 

 air, sunshine and pure water are germ destroyers. But behind the 

 problem of feeding lie some important factors, not one of which 

 can be overlooked. 



Type and Breed. 

 Too many start with or breed from immature sows. The hog 

 of to-day bears but a slight resemblance to its early ancestors. The 

 process of elimination and intensification of traits, form, growth, 

 etc., coupled with the law of environment, has resulted in a creature 

 radically different from the long-nosed rooter of years ago or the 

 razorbaek of the south. To be a successful breeder one must enter 

 fully into an api^reciation of the changes resulting in what we see 

 to-day, and be prepared to push the wall of opposing forces still 

 further into the background. So tenacious is the law of reversion 

 that there is demanded a firm gi-ip and steady hand to insure im- 

 provement. The question of breeds is here as elsewhere secondary 

 to type. The pork maker wants a pig which, given right condi- 

 tions, will make from 175 to 225 pounds of dressed product in six 

 months. First of all, we want the long-bodied, deep barreled. 



