JUDGING SWINE 97 



case the same precautions must be taken in the selection 

 of the breeding animals. One must not accept an animal 

 for foundation stock simply because it bears a pedigree. 

 In order not to select a scrub masquerading as a highly 

 bred animal, he must know the true pork type, the ideal 

 market animal. Even then his selections may go amiss, 

 for the animals he selects may not breed true to type. 

 Therefore, when possible, the beginner should use only 

 young, tried animals, even though they may cost a trifle 

 more. A little extra money is alvi'ays well spent in the 

 purchasing of better foundation stock. 



Cost of breeding swine. — The cost of breeding swine 

 seems almost prohibitive, and most of us are tempted to 

 use scrub and unimproved animals with the hopes of 

 improving them. This is not only true of the sows, but 

 it is also frequently true of the boars. Most of us do not 

 consider the increased value which a better boar puts on 

 each of his pigs, which will very soon more than cover 

 the small additional price. As a rule, a few extra dollars 

 spent in better blood is well spent; but, of course, when 

 one is spending the few extra dollars for better blood he 

 wants to know that he is getting what is being paid for. 

 One can only know this by becoming a good judge of 

 breeding swine, which means that one must not only be 

 able to recognize type, character and pork qualities in a 

 breeding animal, but must be able to tell within a fair 

 degree of accuracy the kind of offspring that will come 

 from such an animal. 



Selecting breeding swine. — Since the ultimate use of 

 breeding swine is the production of ideal porkers, their 

 selections should be made with this in view. Quick 



