HOG-RAISING IN BRITISH COLUMBIA. 



BY S. H. HOPKINS, ASSISTANT LIVE STOCK COMMISSIONER. 



HIS PROVINCE is a large importer of hogs and hog products at the 

 present time. In recent years we have produced only about one-third 

 as much pork as we have consumed. Yet British Columbia has largely 

 the same natural advantages as Denmark, famous for its high-quality 

 bacon exports. Clover, alfalfa, rape, kale, and roots flourish on our 

 fertile soils. These, together with a fast increasing supply of dairy 

 by-products, tend to economical pork production. A largely increased 

 supply of home-grown pork and bacon is assured if our farmers will 

 but take advantage of their opportunities. With such markets as our cities and 

 lumbering and mining can^ps afford, there need be little fear of overproduction. 

 One note of warning may, however, be sounded. The history of the hog industry, 

 like that of every other, has been a succession of periods of high and low prices. 

 Consequently, many beginners have bought stock at high prices and had to sell at 

 low ; then they have given up in disappointment. The universal testimony is that 

 the man who has made money in the hog business is the man who has stuck to it 

 systematically. The hog-raiser has to decide on the number he can raise economi- 

 cally, according to his conditions, and then keep in the business. 



TYPE OF HOG REQUIRED. 



There are two extreme types of swine the lard type, noted for the production 

 of thick fat; and the bacon type, noted for producing fine "streaky" bacon, or what 

 are known as " Wiltshire sides." Between these two there are intermediate types. 

 Examples of the bacon type are found in the Large Yorkshire and Tamworth breeds, 

 while the Poland-China and Duroc-Jersey breeds are representative of the lard type. 

 The Berkshire and Chester White, as bred in Canada, stand between these extreme 

 types. 



The lard-hog is a product of the United States corn belt. The packers there 

 demand an immense quantity of lard, and corn furnishes the means. Here in British 

 Columbia the market for lard is limited. Moreover, we cannot produce corn to such 

 an extent as in the corn belt. This explains why the Yorkshire, Berkshire, Tarn- 

 worth, and Chester White breeds are most in demand in this country. All the lard 

 required for local consumption can be obtained from hogs of these breeds in the 

 trimming process. A streaky bacon, with a large proportion of lean meat, is most 

 desired in city and lumber camp, and is supplied by this type of hog. 



The kind most sought after by butchers is what is known as a " light hog," 

 weighing alive 140 to 200 lb., and "dressing out" a carcass weighing 100 to 150 lb., 

 not too fat. This means that such a hog must be kept in good growing condition 

 almost up to killing time, and not confined to pens steadily for a long period, as this 

 tends to too much fat. 



The most valuable part of the carcass is, of course, the upper part of the sides 

 from the back of the shoulder to the rump, hence good length is desirable in this 

 quarter. Some hogs are long-bodied, but they have such a long, oblique shoulder 

 that it makes them comparatively short in the side. Such hogs carry too much 

 weight at the front the cheap end. Length is important, but not all-important. A 

 hog must possess sufficient depth and thickness of body to ensure a good constitution 

 and feeding capacity. A sway back, long coarse legs, and a narrow chest, with slab 

 sides, are to be avoided. 



