SMALL HOLDINGS 85 



management a sow will return a profit of 



25 per cent, upon the money expended 



upon her and her litters. Thus, if 

 Pigs. ^ 



the cost for food is £20 a year, 



the profit should be £5. This is the 

 dictum of successfui men, although there 

 are times when this sum is much ex- 

 ceeded, while under bad conditions a year's 

 work may show a loss. The breeder 

 should not be guided either by the cost of 

 pigs or foods. The practice of ceasing to 

 breed or to feed when prices rise and of com- 

 mencing again when prices fall is most 

 disastrous. As in the case of the cow, great 

 care should be taken to select good stock. 

 A sow should either be of pure breed, such as 

 the large white or large black, or a cross 

 between these varieties, or one of these and 

 the Berkshire, but in any case she should be 

 large. Young pigs cannot grow into large 

 ones if they are the produce of a small sow 

 or an immature gilt, whatever the breed of 

 the sire. She should possess great length 

 of body, width of loin, great depth of flank, 

 large hams, a head inclined to be long, with 

 ears to match. Short heads and ears with 

 short snouts which are dished or inclined 

 upwards are indicative of aptitude to lay 



