PART III-SWINE 



INTRODUCTION 



The hog is universally known as the "mortgage lifter." No other 

 animal has contributed more toward the success of farming in the 

 United States. This country leads the world in hog breeding and pork 

 production. The money-making ability of the hog is based on the 

 following advantages of the hog and of hog raising: 



1. Hogs are the most efficient converters of grain and certain 

 other feeds into meat. They make larger gains in weight in proportion 

 to feed consumed than other farm animals. 



2. They are most prolific, commonly farrowing from 6 to 10 pigs, 

 and will raise two litters per year. 



3. Returns come quickly. The pigs may be marketed within ten 

 months after the sows are bred. The sow may be bred when eight 

 months old, farrowing her first litter at twelve months of age. 



4. Of all meat-producing farm animals, the pig is best adapted 

 to diversified and intensified farming where a large income is desired 

 from a small acreage. 



5. The hog has a higher dressing percentage than any other 

 animal, and a larger proportion of the live weight is edible than of any 

 other animal. 



6. Pork is the most nutritious meat and has better curing and 

 keeping qualities than any other meat. 



7. No other animal equals the hog in its fat-storing ability, and 

 hog fat is the most valuable fat produced by domestic animals. 



8. Hogs are the most efficient farm animals in converting certain 

 wastes and by-products into profits. This statement applies to grain 

 wasted by fattening cattle, ^ utilization of garbage, and utilization of 

 dairy by-products such as skim milk. In some wooded sections of the 

 countrj% pigs convert acorns, other mast, and roots into saleable form. 



9. Hog raising requires a smaller investment in animals and 

 equipment and yields quicker and relatively larger results than any 

 other branch of animal husbandry. 



^W. W. Smith of Purdue University states that for every bushel of ear or shelled 

 corn fed to steers, the hogs following the cattle produce an average of from one to 

 two pounds of pork; and that when the grain is crushed or ground before feeding to 

 cattle, from a quarter to a half pound of pork is produced. With hogs selling at 10 

 cents per pound, a saving of 2}^ to 20 cents per bushel of corn fed to the cattle is 

 eflfected by the hogs. — Pork Production, p. 4. 



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