SWINE GEORGE E. DAY. 7 



howeyer, have allowed this one point to run away with their 

 judgment, and in their effort to secure length they have 

 sacrificed constitution, feeding qualities, muscular develop- 

 ment and general quality. It is regrettable, also, that there 

 are judges 'who will hang the first-prize ribbons on these 

 slab-sided, narrow-chested, long-legged, coarse-boned, qual- 

 ity-lacking brutes, simply because they possess length. Then, 

 there are men who run to the other extreme, and think that 

 in order to have an easy feeder they must have a fine-boned, 

 short-bodied, fat-backed, heavy-shouldered, thick-necked, 

 tubby little pig, utterly useless for bacon purposes. It is not 

 difficult to see how both these men have lost sight of utility. 

 The first has sacrificed nearly all that the feeder requires, 

 and a good deal of what the packer requires; whereas the 

 other has sacrificed nearly all that the packer requires, and 

 a good deal of what the feeder requires, because a really 

 desirable bacon hog is also a good feeder's hog. There are 

 -breeders, however, whose view is broad enough to take in 

 both sides of the question, and who are producing hogs 

 eminently well adapted to the requirements of the feeder and 

 the packer. Such men are truly successful breeders and 

 their work is bound to stand, because it is built upon a sound 

 foundation, the bed-rock, utility. 



SELECTION OF THE BOAR. 



Pure Breeding. In these days when pure bred males 

 are plentiful, and reasonable in price, there is no excuse for 

 using anything but a pure-bred boar. The pure-bred boar 

 will transmit his own qualities to his progeny with greater 

 certainty, and thus produce pigs of more uniform character 

 than will a grade or a cross-bred. It is only by using pure- 

 bred males that progress can be made and success attained. 



Cliaracter. Character is difficult to define, and yet the 

 experienced breeder can recognize it at a glance and knows 

 its importance. It implies conformation to the best type 

 of the breed, but it goes still further. Character in the boar 



