58 BREEDS OF SWINE 
thoughtful breeders will give the matter careful consideration. 
There is little doubt that the best breeders will succeed in 
maintaining quality without sacrificing utility, and that the 
over-fine type will fall into disfavor with the general farmer. 
Utility—The Poland-China has been developed especially 
to meet the market demand for a fat or lard hog. The heavy 
shoulder, wide back, and largely developed hams render it an 
exceptionally good yielder from the packer’s stand-point. 
A cross between the Poland-China and the Berkshire, 
Duroc-Jersey, or Chester White is generally highly esteemed, 
and many regard the cross-breds as superior to the pure-breds 
for feeding. 
As to early maturity, or the ability to produce a 
finished fat carcass for the butcher at an early age, no breed 
excels the Poland-China. It has been bred for early maturity 
for generations, and has acquired a high reputation in this 
regard. 
The Poland-China is a general favorite with corn-belt 
farmers. It has been developed upon corn-feeding, and will 
probably stand heavy corn feeding better than most other 
breeds. As a machine for turning corn into pork, it is hard 
to beat, and it is also a good grass hog. 
The meat of the Poland-China has been criticised freely 
for carrying too large a proportion of fat to lean, and there 
seems to be good ground for the criticism. In their efforts 
to bring the breed to its present stage of perfection as a feeder, 
breeders have overlooked the production of lean along with 
fat, but the breed seems to meet the demands of the American 
packer, and he is willing to pay top market price for it. 
Since so much attention has been paid to the development 
of fine bone and a marked tendeney to fatten in this breed, 
it is not surprising to find it criticised as lacking in fecundity. 
