Breeding 455 



which are to be retained for breeding from the large litters 

 only. If this practice is followed year after year, the 

 breeding average will be maintained or improved. The 

 sows which produce the large litters, which milk down 

 and become thin during the nursing period, are the kind 

 which transmit prolific breeding qualities to their pigs. 



The third point to which attention should be given 

 is always to prefer the boar which is from a large litter 

 and prolific strain. The sire is supposed to influence 

 equally with the dam the ability of the gilt to produce 

 large litters. Since the size of the litter is limited by the 

 number of eggs produced by the dam, the boar to which 

 the sow is mated is believed to have no influence on the 

 size of the resulting litter, provided he is vigorous (see 

 Chapter V). Although this is true, the pig-producing 

 ability of the sow pigs in this litter will be as much in- 

 fluenced by the sire as by the dam. 



2. In addition to regular prolific breeding qualities, 

 the ideal farmer's hog must have capacity for making 

 rapid growth. The eflBciency of any breed as pork-pro- 

 ducers is largely determined by the ability of the pigs 

 to make rapid gains in the feed yard. Also, rapid gains 

 usually mean economical ones. 



The constitution and feeding capacity of a herd can be 

 improved by giving more attention to the matter of size 

 and feeding quality in the stock selected for breeding 

 purposes. Too much attention was devoted in the past 

 to quality and refinement and not enough to vigor and 

 growthiness. This was particularly true ten years ago. 

 The result was a hog possessing extraordinary ability 

 to fatten at an early age, but at a sabrifice of size and 

 gaining capacity. Quality is desirable and necessary, 

 but when quality is not combined with substance it does 



