ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE SWINE INDUSTRY 9 



When we consider breeding, the South is far behind 

 other sections of America, and the proverbial "razorback" 

 is altogether too frequent. Improvement is rapidly tak- 

 ing place and this drawback will soon be removed. The 

 number of hogs that are produced on each farm is, as a 

 rule, more or less limited, which means than uniformity 

 will be somewhat difficult to attain. The improvement 

 made in recent years in arriving at the most profitable 

 class of hogs from both the standpoint of the producer 

 and packer has been rapid, and it will not be many }'cars 

 until the South in general will be marketing swine that 

 on the whole will compare quite favorably with swine 

 from the Corn Belt and West. 



Increase in soil fertility due to swine grazing. — Not 

 only is it possible for the farmer to make a profit from 

 grazing oft' a crop and turning it into pork, but by so 

 doing he thereby greatly increases the future capacity of 

 the land for growing staple crops. This has been clearly 

 pointed out by Gray', in reports on some work done by 

 Bennett^ at the Arkansas Station, with results as shown 

 in the following table : 



INCREASE IN COTTON YIELD DUE TO GROWING AND CRAZING OFF OF CROPS 



■ Av. % Val. of 



Lbs. seed 



cotton 



1899 



Cotton following peanuts 



grazed by hogs 1,771 



Cotton following soy 



beans grazed by hogs-- 1,588 

 Cotton following chufas 



grazed by hogs 1,200 



Cotton following corn 



not gra zed by hogs — 1,005 



' Farmers' Bulletin 411. 



'Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 68. 



