CHAPTEE NINE. 



AGE, TIME AND SEASON FOR BREEDING. 



Personally I am a firm believer that for best results 

 animals should not be bred too young. Many breeders and 

 farmers make a great mistake in selecting the sows they 

 wish to breed, frorh the spring gilts each year, also select- 

 ing from his own herd, or some other, a young boar from a 

 spring farrow, rather than carry over his older sows and 

 keeping a mature boar. I am positive that it is much better 

 to use only mature animals for breeding or those as nearly 

 matured as possible. tWe all know that a sow from two 

 to five years old bred to a boar of about the same age will 

 produce stronger pigs with considerably more size and 

 weight at birth, than will a young gilt, and yet many men 

 each year purchase young bred gilts. 



I think the average litter also is larger in number from 

 mature animals. Furthermore, it has been my observation 

 that the farmer who each year selects young gilts and breeds 

 to a young boar and follows it up for a number of years, 

 gradually reduces by this process the stamina and vitality 

 of his herd, causing them to be in a condition to contract 

 disease much easier than would older animals. For this 

 reason I would advise that, for best results, notliing be bred 

 under one year old, which would bring the litter at about 

 sixteen months of age, at which time the animals are well 

 along toward maturity. After having started a sow to 

 breeding and it is found that she is a good producer, a 

 good mother, careful of her litter and a good suckler, by 

 all means keep that sow as long as she produces satisfac- 

 torily, and when you strike the best mating, or one that 

 proves highly satisfactory, continue to breed her to the 

 same boar, rather than take chances by changing. 



