500 



FARMER'S CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



parted to them a better meat form, more 

 rapid growing and fattening qualities, 

 greater fecundity, and a gentler disposi- 

 tion, while retaining in a large measure 

 the size, hardy and vigorous constitution 

 and good grazing qualities of the native 

 breeds. The leading breeds of Great 

 Britain, the Berkshire, Yorkshire, Small 

 Black, etc, were largely built up on this 



Origin of American breeds — Ameri- 

 can breeds of hogs have been built up 

 on stock brought into this country from 

 Europe before much improvement in 

 breeds had taken place and on the later 

 improved breeds from England. Of the 

 eight or nine breeds of hogs now promi- 

 nent in the United States, five have 

 been originated by American breeders. 

 Only one European breed is now ex- 

 tensively grown here. This is the Berk- 

 shire of England, and even this breed 

 has been considerably modified by Amer- 

 ican breeders. 



The one feature which stands out 

 above all others in making America the 

 chief swine producing country of the 

 world, and which makes swine the most 

 profitable of our farm animals, is Indian 

 corn. This crop thrives in nearly ali 

 parts of the United States, reaching its 

 greatest perfection in the states tribu- 

 tary to the Mississippi river. It fur- 

 nishes the grain most relished by hogs, 

 and the hog is able to condense it and 

 convert it into meat more rapidly and 

 with greater economy than any other 

 farm animal. 



Statistics of production — The figures 

 of the swine industry in the United 

 States may be roughly stated as follows : 

 The number of stock hogs maintained 

 on American farms average about 47j- 

 000,000 annually; the number slaugh- 

 tered annually is about 56,000,000. This 

 is possible since sows have a number of 

 pigs at each farrowing, and the pigs 

 are usually marketed between six and 

 ten months of age. The average value 

 of the carcass of the hogs slaughtered, 

 is $8.80 each. About 6,500,000 dressed 

 carcasses are exported each year. 



The leading states of production are, 

 first of all, Iowa, which annually pro- 

 duces more than twice as many hogs as 

 any other state in the union. In 1904 

 the number was 7,290,625. Illinois and 

 Missouri stand next to Iowa in numbers 

 produced, averaging over 3,000,000 an- 

 nually, followed by Nebraska, Ohio, In- 



diana and Texas, all with about or a lit- 

 tle over 2,000,000 each. Ten states, 

 Kansas, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ken- 

 tucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, 

 Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina, 

 produce more than 1,000,000 each. The 

 United States produces about two-fifths 

 of the hogs of the world. 



Type grown in United States — The 

 main type of hog grown in the United 

 States is what is known as the "fat," 

 "block," "corn belt," or "lard" hog. It 

 is called the fat or lard hog because of 

 its ability when heavily fed to lay on a 

 large amount of fat. There are a num- 

 ber of breeds included in this type, dif- 

 fering widely in color, vigor, fecundity, 

 grazing qualities, size and individual 

 characteristics, but all have the general 

 features of the lard hog type. 



In general, the lard type is a broad, 

 deep, blocky hog, closely approximating 

 a parallelogram in form, with the cor- 

 ners slightly rounded. His back, belly 

 and sides are nearly straight and par- 

 allel and when viewed from the front 

 or rear his outline is nearly square, but 

 a little deeper than wide. The snout, 

 neck and head are short, the legs short 

 and set well apart. 



This kind of hog has been developed 

 because it is the kind the packers want 

 and will pay the most money for. It 

 supplies the largest amount of high- 

 priced meat, such as hams and choice 

 cuts along the back, besides a good qual- 

 ity of bacon from the side cuts. 



Score card for lard type — The various 

 features of this type and their relative 

 importance in the perfect animal are 

 thus set forth in the score card for bar- 

 rows formulated by Prof. J. H. Craig 

 in his recent book on judging live stock. 



SCALE OF POINTS FOR FAT HOGS. — BARROW. 



General Appearance: 



Weight, score according to age . . 6 

 Form, deep, broad, low, long, sym- 

 metrical, compact, standing 



squarely on legs 10 



Quality, hair silky, skin fine, bone 



fine, flesh smooth, mellow and 



free from lumps or wrinkles. 10 



Condition, deep, even covering of 



flesh, especially in regions of 



valuable cuts 10 



Head and Neck: 



Snout, medium length, not coarse . 1 



Eyes, full, mild, bright 1 



Eace, short, cheeks full ..,,..,,., 1 



