CHAPTER LII. 



JUDGING BREEDING SWINE. 



THERE are certain very essential things that must be kept 

 in > mind and understood when judging breeding swine. 

 Where hogs are simply fed and finished for the butcher, 

 then they are passed upon solely for their value as meat, 

 having in mind the standards already discussed in detail 

 in the preceding pages. But if the hogs are to be considered 

 as breeding animals, to be used for purposes of reproduc- 

 tion, then still other qualities and characteristics must be 

 considered. One must have in mind the ideal lard or 

 bacon type, and then either add to or subtract from this 

 type, so as to secure the ideal breeding conformation and 

 character. This requires consideration of the following 

 features when applied to the boar or sow : 



(a) Sex character. 



(6) Temperament. 



(c) Size. 



(d) Frame. 



(<?) Breed characteristics. 



(A) THE BOAR. 



Sex character in the boar is manifested in several ways. 

 The head is strong, is larger than that of the female, and 

 shows pronounced masculinity. After attaining a few 

 months of age the young males begin to show a slight in- 

 crease in size of head and, as maturity approaches, heavy 

 tusks appear on the sides of each jaw. Thus in the mature 

 boar one looks for a strong head, with what might be re- 

 garded as a tendency to coarseness, as shown in the larger 

 features, thickness of skin and coarse type of hair. The 



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