96 Forty ■ Years' Experience of a Practical Hog Man. 



show ring, and being at an age that shows full development 

 and yet not required to have produced any offspring, nat- 

 urally will be much smoother and more in bloom. This class 

 is usually the best of all at any breed show. These 

 should be of the same general type as the older ones se- 

 lected, and should be in the pink of show condition — well 

 developed at every point — carrying all the flesh that goes 

 to make an ideal show animal, yet under no circumstances 

 to be overly fatted or fleshed to a condition of uneveness 

 or roughness. 



This same careful selection must be carried out also in 

 the boar and three sows under twelve months of age. This 

 is really the hardest class to fill satisfactorih^ First, 

 for the reason that the young boar over six and under 

 twelve months of age is passing through a crisis in his de- 

 velopment; this being an age that almost invariably, if the 

 boar is a vigorous one, finds him fretting and champing 

 more or less when in sight of other animals. The sows, 

 also of this age, are harder to properly develop and bring 

 out in their best form, as they too are passing through a 

 period of life when there is more or less restlessness and 

 excitement than when older. 



Some people greatly enjoy bringing out a pig herd, under 

 six months of age, as there are often enticing prizes offered 

 in this class, and it is a good way to show the class of pigs 

 you are producing. While this class should also be as uni- 

 form in type and conformation as the others, and should 

 be well fitted in flesh, care should be taken that they are not 

 pushed too hard and become over done, and more or less 

 wrinkled in appearance. 



