106 HIGGLE SWINE BOOK. 



city, town and village people consume and hence reg- 

 ulate the demand for a very large percentage of all the 

 pork sent to market by American farmers. 



Ham is a standard food in this country, and is freely 

 eaten even by people who proclaim their inability to 

 digest pork. Choice hams are always in demand at 

 the highest prices paid for any portion of the hog's 

 carcass. 



In the present condition of the market I shall allow 

 none of my hogs to get much above 200 pounds in 

 weight, except for special or temporary reasons. 



We are getting along pretty well, as a people, in 

 learning how to produce things. We are not slow about 

 accepting the discoveries of science, and are ever ready 

 to harness nature's forces and put them to work in our 

 everyday affairs. But the Government is beginning to 

 recognize that another great national problem is before 

 us. "The rapid development of the agricultural re- 

 sources of the United States, ' ' says the U. S. Yearbook 

 for 1896, "has resulted in an annual production far in 

 excess of the consuming capacity of our population. 

 To such a degree has the surplus increased that its dis- 

 posal is fast becoming a grave problem. The logical 

 solution lies in the extension of our markets beyond the 

 sea." The same volume elsewhere says that these 

 conditions justify the Department of Agriculture in 

 placing before American farmers as many facts and 

 figures relative to markets as it is possible to obtain. 



My opinion is that while farmers need in no way 

 feel alarmed by the outlook, they should realize that 

 quality more than quantity will be the determining 

 factor in pork prices and profits during the next 



