178 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



FIFTY-TWO PURE-BRED DUROC JERSEY PIGS PURCHASED BY A BANK AND READY FOR 

 DISTRIBUTION AMONG PIG-CEUB MEMBERS 



Few investments have proved safer than the money spent in farming communities by 

 banks willing to finance boys and girls eager to join the pig-club movement. In some cases 

 the necessary capital is loaned to- the boys and girls on promissory notes ; in others the bank 

 purchases the pigs and farms them out, each member agreeing to return to the bank two gilts 

 from the first litter of bred sows (see page 174). 



papers. From the analyses of feeding 

 stuff in the bulletins, I got the addresses 

 of the firms that sold the best feed and 

 sent for some. I went into the contest 

 with all my heart, because I felt that I 

 must defend my argument. 



"When I got the premises I built a pig 

 house and pen. The house was in a cool, 

 shady place, where the sun could shine on 

 it a few hours in the morning. Close by 

 it I made a cement wallow and an oiler. 

 The fence was built around the patch of 

 rape, oats, and clover that I had sown for 

 the pig. I made things sanitary and kept 

 them so during the contest. 



"The next step was to introduce the 

 little red runt to his new quarters. If 

 he was disgusted he did not show it by 

 grunting, for after the first day he never 

 grunted, squealed, nor rooted. 



"Several things indicated that this pig 



needed spice for his system, and as 'vari- 

 ety is the spice of life/ I decided on a 

 variety of feeds and ways of feeding 

 which were none the worse for the pig. 

 People must have their foods prepared 

 differently at different meals, and as a 

 pig comes close to being the same as some 

 so-called humans, I prepared his feed ac- 

 cordingly. 



"I fed only the amount of feed that the 

 pig would clean up in a short time ; con- 

 sequently he ate large quantities of the 

 pasture. I was always on the job and 

 the pig responded, and it was not long 

 before I had not a pig but a hog. 



"The results of the contest were : the 

 pig weighed 58 pounds at the beginning 

 and 243 pounds at the end. He gained 

 185 pounds in 92 days, or two pounds a 

 day. The cost of production was 5.03 

 cents a pound and the cost of the feed 



