66 HIGGLE SWINE BOOK. 



corn, with its wide ratio of i : 10 or 1:12. Very 

 young pigs need the narrow ratio, to build up a frame- 

 work, and matured pigs may safely be finished on 

 corn ; but the most rapid growth for shotes will evi- 

 dently be made on ratios varying from i : 4 up to i : 6. 



It is another matter, even with this knowledge, to 

 maintain a perfect balance when so much promiscuous 

 food is fed to the hogs, and this is \vhere experience 

 and good judgment count for so much. But the 

 farmer who grasps the theory of the balanced ration is 

 certain in the long run to make cheaper and better 

 pork than his less intelligent neighbor who depends 

 solely on experience or perhaps on the advice of some- 

 body even less competent than himself. 



It is quite possible to have well-fed pigs grow at 

 the average rate of a pound per day from birth to the 

 age of six or eight months. Governor Hoard is quoted 

 as saying that the pig is at the pinnacle of profit at fifty 

 pounds or near that point, invariably ; and that each ad- 

 ditional pound is slightly more expensive than its prede- 

 cessor. Certain it is that young animals are more 

 profitably fed than old ones, and that there is a point 

 where feeding wholly ceases to pay. It is also true 

 that the better the care the better the growth, and the 

 less the cost of production. 



The division of labor, which constantly increases 

 with civilization and with improved transportation fa- 

 cilities, is apparent in the swine business as well as in 

 all other industries. Formerly it was the custom in my 

 community to breed as well as to raise pigs, but now I 

 perceive that many of my neighbors buy more pigs 

 than they raise. The pigs come as shotes weighing fifty 



