CHAPTER SIXTEEN. 



SELECTING A BOAR FOR USE ON GRADE OR 

 COMMON SOWS. 



There are thousands of pure-bred boars bought annually 

 for use in the herds of farmers who do not care to grow 

 hogs except for the open market, and while the selection 

 of a boar for this purpose is of much importance, yet it 

 is not so necessary that the buyer should be a student of 

 pedigrees as in the case of the breeder of pure-breds, but 

 it is of vital importance that the farmer buy a pure-bred 

 boar and that the boar be not only well bred but a good 

 individual of the easy-feeding, early-maturing sort, and 

 himself vigorous and masculine. Such a boar will add 

 several times his cost in the feeding and quick-maturing 

 qualities of his pigs from common sows. Sometimes con- 

 servative farmers do not like to pay the price asked by 

 breeders for their good hogs, yet I feel sure it is false 

 economy, as the better ones will prove the most profitable. 

 I once saw a farmer putbid a breeder for a good boar, and 

 he got him at a higher price than many breeders will pay, 

 saying, "I never stop at any reasonable price for a good 

 boar to sire pigs for the market. ' ' This man was a breeder 

 of pure-bred cattle and knew the value of a good sire, and 

 bred and fed hogs at a profit. 



Buy Your Boar Early. 



To the farmer who wishes to purchase a boar for use as 

 a producer of good feeding hogs for the market, I would 

 urge that he do not wait too long as many do, but that he 

 buy the boar early, while the herd from which it is to come 

 is not all culled, so that he may get a better choice and the 

 pig may become accustomed to his new home long before 

 he is to be used. 



When the pig first comes to his new home he should be 

 given a good-sized grass lot to exercise in; a dry, warm 

 place to sleep, and where other pigs or hogs cannot worry 



