Types and Market Classes of Live Stock 373 



Boars 



Boars are always sold in a class by themselves and bring a much 

 lower price than the best hogs on the market at the same time. They 

 sell without dockage but at a lower price than stags. The pork is 

 used to supply the cheaper class of trade and also for making sausage. 

 Boars are not usually marketed until their days of breeding service are 

 over and they are old and coarse. Many of them are condemned by 

 government inspectors because of sexual odor. They then bring only 

 fertilizer price. It is usually more profitable to castrate boars, feed 

 them for a time, and send them to m^arket as stags rather than as boars. 



Miscellaneous 



Roasting pigs are suckling pigs that weigh from 15 to 30 pounds. 

 They come to market in small numbers and only during holiday seasons. 

 They are taken direct from their dams, dressed with head and feet on, 

 and served like spring chickens or turkeys. The price varies greatly. 



Governments. — Before hogs are allowed to pass over the scales to 

 be weighed out to the packer, speculator, shipper, or anyone else who 

 may choose to buy them, they must first pass the scrutiny of a govern- 

 ment inspector. All hogs not considered healthy in every respect are 

 tagged by this inspector and retained for further examination. Preg- 

 nant sows which appear to be within a few days of farrowing, hogs 

 with bunches, abscesses, etc., also hogs with cuts on the hams and 

 shoulders are retained. These are called "governments." They are 

 usually bought by a local dealer and taken to one of the smaller packing 

 houses where they are slaughtered under the supervision of an inspector. 

 If found to be affected so as to make the flesh unfit for human food, 

 they are condemned and tanked. The tank is a large steam-tight 

 receptacle, like a steam boiler, in which the carcass is converted into 

 grease and fertilizer. 



Cripples are hogs that are not able to walk and must be hauled to 

 the packing plant in "cripple carts." ^ Weakness of pasterns, feet, and 

 legs is a common fault in lard hogs, especially in those heavily fattened 

 on corn not properly supplemented with feeds containing the proteins, 

 minerals, and vitamines needed to balance the ration. Lack of exercise 

 is another cause. Overcrowding of cars and loading and unloading 

 too hurriedly often cause crippling. On the market there are far 

 more cripples among hogs than among any other kind of stock. 

 Crippled hogs sell for fully a dollar less per cwt. than they would have 

 otherwise brought. 



Dead hogs are hogs that died in transit due to overheat, rough 

 handling, over-feeding in hot weather before shipping, and other 



1 These are two-wheeled, low-hung carts pulled by one horse. 



