THE BREEDING SEASON 215 



too fat, she may be difficult to get with pig. Further- 

 more, the size of the Htter, as well as the size, thriftiness 

 and vigor of the pigs, depends in large measure upon the 

 condition of the sow not only at breeding time, but dur- 

 ing the entire period of gestation. It is considered that if 

 a sow is in a state of rapid improvement at the time she 

 is being bred, and is vigorous, active, and in high flesh 

 during the period of gestation, she will produce the larg- 

 est litter and also the best pigs. 



Prolificacy. — Prolificacy, then, or the number of pigs 

 that will be farrowed by a sow is largely a matter of feed- 

 ing and care. If a sow is properly handled, she will be 

 prolific and produce a large number of pigs per litter, 

 while otherwise she will not. This of course is consider- 

 ably influenced by selection. Hogs of proper conforma- 

 tion and from prolific strains will produce more pigs per 

 litter than those selected otherwise. 



USEFUL AGE OF SIRE AND DAM, 



The question is often asked how long a breeding ani- 

 mal should be retained in a herd. This can be answered 

 most directly and perhaps in the best way by saying that 

 a breeding animal should be retained in the herd as long 

 as good results are produced by it. Both sire and dam 

 may be misused to the extent that they will not do good 

 service for more than a few years. 



The Sire. — In order that a boar may be of the greatest 

 service, he should not be used except to a very slight ex- 

 tent, until he has come to maturity. He may be used on 

 a very few sows at the age of eight or nine months, and 

 may be used on a few more when he is one year old, but 

 in general he should not be put to hard service until he 

 has come to maturity at about two years of age. Even 



