390 Types and Market Classes of Live Stock 



heavy salt meats which had been in greater demand, and packers gave 

 preference to handy-weight hogs weighing from 225 to 275 pounds. 

 As a result of this, hog breeders turned their attention to the develop- 

 ment of quality and early maturity, sacrificing size to obtain them. 

 They developed a very wide, thick, compact, short legged, close- to- 

 the-ground type of hog, having great refinement of bone, head, ear, 

 hair, and fleshing, and great smoothness. An extreme type was 

 developed, in fact the swing from size and coarseness to high quality 

 and compactness was carried so far that during the nineties farmers 

 made strong objections to the small, chunky type developed by many 

 breeders of purebred hogs. The sows were not prolific and the pigs 

 lacked ability to grow rapidly, to make large daily gains, and to attain 

 market weights in quick time. 



The modern type. — The reaction from the small type following 

 the year 1905 became so marked that very rough, coarse hogs, and 

 hogs of very inferior form, found favor with breeders and farmers 

 merely because they had large size. A little later, smoothness and 

 good form were added without loss of size. It was found that in order 

 to grow to large size a hog need not be rough and coarse in quality, nor 

 awkward and slouching in form. But there are three things which 

 are essential to the development of size in hogs and essential to the 

 most rapid growth. These are length of body, length of leg, and 

 large but not coarse bone. The long and rather narrow bodied, 

 leggy, weanling pig with ample bone is the one that grows rapidly, 

 keeps on growing for a long period, and makes a big hog. Such a pig 

 requires also a fourth essential to make him the most profitable sort 

 of a market pig— namely, depth and capacity of chest and middle 

 to insure constitutional vigor, good feeding qualities, and the desired 

 finish at market weights. 



In earlier times when corn was cheap, hogs were given a complete 

 finish before they were marketed. When the change to the handy- 

 weight market hog occurred, corn was still relatively cheap and a high 

 finish was given, producing very broad-backed hogs. In some recent 

 years higher prices for com and lower prices for lard have operated to 

 lessen to some extent the amount of finish which is most desirable from 

 the producer's standpoint. The modem corn-belt hog, though still a 

 lard hog, is not quite so thick and broad as his predecessor. It seems 

 logical to suppose that the lard hog of the future will be required to 

 make his gains more largely in growth, on cheap forages, and less in 

 fat on heavy grain feeding than was true of the lard hog of the past. 

 But as long as the United States shall continue to grow a vast yield of 

 com far in excess of its requirement for human food, it is also reason- 

 able to suppose that corn will continue to be used very extensively in 



