THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



175 





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Photograph from Department of Agriculture 

 THESE LITTLE PIGS WILL GO TO MARKET 



But before that event this ruddy-cheeked youngster will have enjoyed the work of feeding, 

 fattening, and keeping a record of the gain in weight and the cost per pound of the seven 

 porkers, which will afford him as much pleasure and pride as could any other farm pets — and 

 decidedly more profit in the end. 



from the first litter. These gilts are m 

 turn "farmed out" to other club members 

 on similar terms, and the bank's holding 

 of pigs thus increases by arithmetical pro- 

 gression ; hence the term "endless chain." 



REMARKABLE ENTHUSIASM EVINCED BY 

 PIG-CLUB BOYS 



It is not surprising that bankers find 

 their pig-club loans conducive to the es- 

 tablishment of cordial relations with the 

 future farmers and swine breeders of 

 their communities, for the interest taken 

 in their pigs by club members is one of 

 the most significant phases of the move- 

 ment. 



This interest is reflected in thousands 

 of letters received by instructors, club 

 agents, Department of Agriculture offi- 

 cials, and the bankers themselves. There 

 was the case of a crippled child in Mis- 

 sissippi last summer who became so en- 



grossed with the project of fattening his 

 pig that he induced his parents to allow 

 him to move his cot to a shed near his 

 pig-house in order that he might feed his 

 pet at midnight. One night the pig failed 

 to eat his usual meal with the customary 

 piggish relish ; whereupon the youthful 

 owner hobbled to the house on his 

 crutches and telephoned to the county 

 pig-club agent in the adjoining town and 

 insisted upon his coming at once to ascer- 

 tain the cause for the loss of appetite. 



That pigs make attractive pets and are 

 regarded with genuine affection by their 

 youthful masters is a fact of common 

 knowledge to all who have followed the 

 pig-club movement. At one of the fairs 

 in a Southern State, when a pig had been 

 awarded a blue ribbon the boy who had 

 raised the animal from a weanling, ob- 

 livious of the crowd, broke into the 

 ring, threw his arms around his pet and 



