112 SWINE 



occasionally, perhaps not more than a few times in a 

 life time. Selecting this individual whenever it appears, 

 and as many more as may be necessary for a breeding 

 herd that are the best in the crop, and mating these with 

 a sire that has been equally well selected either from the 

 same herd or from a herd of some other breeder, it can 

 easily be seen that the average of the herd the following 

 year will be distinctly better than the starting point, or 

 the average of the first year. Thus the next or second 

 crop of pigs will be better. While the same degree of 

 variation will exist in this crop, the average of the pigs 

 will be higher. This may be illustrated by going from 

 the wild hog to the razor-back. The following year an- 

 other step may be taken in advance by going from the 

 razor-back to the scrub, and this method of improvement 

 may be continued from year to year, going from the scrub 

 to the grade, and from the grade to the pure bred. Im- 

 provement may be made indefinitely. This improvement 

 may be made in any one, or in all, of the various points, 

 such as producing individuals of prolificacy, greater 

 vitality, and greater thriftiness ; sows that produce 

 more milk, sows that are better mothers and will raise 

 a larger percentage of their litter, individuals that have 

 the ability to add more fat, as well as those that have 

 the ability to digest and assimilate more feed and produce 

 greater and cheaper gains. 



Thus it will be seen that the opportunities of the breed- 

 er who practices either grading or pure breeding are un- 

 limited, while the man who practices cross breeding has 

 no opportunities for improvement whatever. The only 

 excuse for the latter method of swine breeding is that 

 there is no possibility of the hogs being inbred, and this 

 is somewhat of a reflection upon the intelligence of the 



