THE HOG UPON THE FARM 5 



for substances that are completely neglected on many farms. 

 Even the cottager frequently utilizes him to obtain a cash 

 return from kitchen refuse and table scraps. It is as a con- 

 sumer of by-products and so-called worthless materials that 

 the hog shows to the best advantage from the stand-point of 

 profit. 



Marketing Home-grown Feeds. — The farmer who raises 

 most of his own feed is in a much better position to feed hogs, 

 or any other class of stock, than the man who has to purchase 

 all his feed. The farmer who grows his own feed may not 

 get any more than market prices for the grain or other produce 

 consumed by the hogs, and may still have a fair profit through 

 selling his produce at market prices in the form of pork ; but the 

 man who buys his feed can have for profit only what he obtains 

 in excess of the market value of the feeds consumed by the 

 hogs. Thus the farmer who grows his' feed has two sources 

 of profit, namely, the grower's profit, or the profit obtained by 

 selling his produce at market price; together with the feeder's 

 profit, or what he obtains for his produce in excess of market 

 price by selling it in the form of pork. The man who has 

 to buy all the produce which he feeds his hogs can have only 

 the feeder's profit, and under unfavorable conditions this profit 

 may be so small that it will scarcely pay for the labor involved. 



Raising Pigs. — ^Another point worthy of consideration is 

 the fact that under favorable condition's and skilful manage- 

 ment young pigs can be raised for feeding at a lower cost 

 than that for which they can be bought. This point will be 

 dealt vsdth more fully in Chapter XXVII, but is mentioned 

 here as one of the factors which help to explain why some 

 people can make hog feeding profitable, while others cannot. 



One of the great difiiculties in connection with the swine 

 industry is the fact that so many people are not content to 



