34 PRINCIPLES OF SWINE BREEDING 



sire, and granddam, are likely to have a greater influence for 

 good or evil than more remote ancestors, and, therefore, the 

 first two or three generations — or, in other Avords, the top crosses 

 — should receive special attention in studying a pedigree. The 

 more remote the ancestor, the less important is its influence 

 likely to be. 



Selection of the Boar. — In these days, vs^hen pure-bred 

 males are plentiful and reasonable in price, there is practically 

 no excuse for using anything but a pure-bred boar, even though 

 the sows may be merely grades. The pure-bred male will 

 transmit his own qualities to his progeny with greater certainty 

 than a grade or cross-bred, and will get pigs of more uniform 

 quality and excellence, so that it pays to use a purebred boar 

 even for producing market hogs. It is true that many pure- 

 bred boars should not be used for breeding, but this affords no 

 reason for using a grade boar. The "scrub " pure-bred should 

 be rejected along with the grade and the cross-bred, and there 

 are reasonably good pure-bred boars always available to the 

 man who will make an effort to get one. 



Price and Merit. — When selecting a boar to head a pure- 

 bred herd, it will not do to be too economical regarding price. 

 This does not mean that we are to pay fancy prices, running 

 into the thousands, such as we sometimes read about; but it is 

 well to bear in mind that a boar which is not good enough to 

 command a fair price is seldom good enough to put at the head 

 of a pure-bred herd. The importance of the herd will de- 

 termine the price which the owner can afford to pay for a 

 boar, but a few extra dollars on the price of a boar is a small 

 matter when it is the means of securing something that the 

 breeder really needs. The mere size of the price, however, 

 is not a safe criterion of the merit of the boar, but it rests 

 with the man -who makes the selection to see that he gets value 



