38 SOUTHERN PORK PRODUCTION 



ignore pedigree and blood lines. What we should aim 

 for is a middle ground, which alone can be the basis of 

 real utility. The middle ground takes note of not only 

 breeding and blood lines, but of indi\'idual merit and suit- 

 ability for breeding purposes. For the beginner, this is a 

 hard ground to take. He knows that the pedigrees are 

 the tabulated record of the ancestry of the individual, and 

 only guarantee ancestry, whether they be good or bad. 

 A good pedigree would, of course, contain a large number 

 of individuals possessing high merit. 



Pure-bred hogs for farmers. — Many farmers are of the 

 opinion that pure-bred swine are for the rich and gentle- 

 men farmers only, and that they are not suited for aver- 

 age farm use, as they lack constitution and cannot main- 

 tain themselves under average farm conditions. In the 

 latter assumption they are partly correct, but it is due to 

 no fault of the swine. What the farmer wants is an 

 animal that will make pork and make it cheaply, and that 

 is what pure-bred or high-grade animals will do. In the 

 selection of breeding animals the farmer can do no better 

 than to select a pure-bred boar and either pure-bred or 

 high-grade sows, in spite of the fact that they may seem 

 to cost a little more to start with, for the advantages of 

 type, early maturity and economy of production soon out- 

 weigh any extra original cost. Scrubs and unimproved 

 animals are, of course, adapted to some farming methods, 

 but if a farmer is equipped for pork production at all, and 

 desires steady profits, he should consider no other breed- 

 ing animals than pure breds or high grades. ^ 



Cross-breds. — The term "cross-bred" is used somewhat 

 more loosely than the term "pure bred." Some authori- 

 ties state it is used to designate that an individual is the 



