SUGGESTIONS TO BEGINNERS 263 
to sell pure-bred pigs for breeding purposes. If he is merely 
raising market pigs, the drover or butcher is the only man to 
please. Whatever breed is selected, it should be retained. No 
man need expect to make a success of breeding any class of 
animals if he keeps changing from one breed to another. 
Buying a Boar.—Sooner or later the beginner will want to 
own a boar of his own, but if there is a really good boar in his 
neighborhood to which he can breed his sows, he had better post- 
pone the purchase until he has gained considerable experience. 
He will find that there are many things about selecting a boar 
which cannot be learned from books, and that wisdom will come 
from experience. Boars can be bought for the least money 
when they are very small, but this method has too many of 
the elements of a game of chance to be commendable. When 
buying a young boar, it will be found safer to buy one from 
eight to twelve months old than a pig two or three months old. 
The reason for this recommendation is plain, it being im- 
possible to foretell just how the very young pig is going to 
develop. Highly-fitted show boars had better be avoided. As 
pointed out in another place, pedigree is important, but the 
boar should, to some extent at least, demonstrate the excellence 
of the blood behind him. It is more satisfactory to select by 
personal inspection than to buy through correspondence. A 
visit to the herd which produced the boar enables one to judge 
the general quality of the hogs produced in the herd, and one 
ean pick up information regarding the sire and dam that could 
not otherwise be obtained. It is easy to pay too much, and it is 
possible to be too economical. It is not so much a question of 
how few dollars we invest as it is one of how much real merit 
we can get for every dollar invested. 
If the boar is shipped some distance and arrives excited and 
tired, he should be fed very lightly at first and not used for 
several weeks after his arrival. 
