THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



431 



Good vs. Bad Breed of Hogs. 



Reader, did you ever see a shoat while 

 rooting kick up every time he bored his 

 nose into the ground, as if trying to stand 

 on his head ? If so, don't buy him ; he 

 will not prove a profitable feeder. We 

 might call th«se a subsoil variety. 



Did you ever see a hog that would grab 

 an ear of corn and run a quarter of a 

 mile before he would stop to eat ? Tf so, 

 beware. We will place them in the same 

 category and for the sake of distinction 

 we will call them Elm peelers. Did you 

 ever see a tall, slab-slided, long-legged, 

 razor-backed breed that were always hun- 

 gry, and when opportunity required, would 

 climb up to w 7 here the rails in the fence 

 were some distance apart and then either 

 slip through a crack or throw off a few 

 rails and jump over ? If so, don't purchase 

 unless you are a small farmer and can't 

 possibly build corn cribbs. We might, 

 perhaps, call these free s oilers or else 

 barn burners. 



Did you ever see a slim, dead alive kind 

 of thing that wf>uld get so poor as to be 

 obliged to trot before and canter behind 

 when required to get up motion and still 

 not die; its eyes both coming out at the 

 same hole, or at least so near it that the 

 hog appeared cross-eyed ? If so, let' us 

 pass the dismal picture, and simply 

 call them old liners. All these breeds 

 may be described as follows : Long ears, 

 large, heavy heads, long and thick legs, 

 a streak of lean underneath a thick, tough 

 hide, with abundance of bristles, and in 

 fine a great amount of offal of every de- 

 scription. 



Such animals have no thriftiness, no 

 capacity to fatten, and very little about 

 them that is digestible after they are 

 killed. 



Considering the number of hogs that 

 are raised annually in the United States 

 and especially as so many depend almost j 

 exclusively on the hog crop for the money 

 they need, is it not wonderful that so few 

 persons take pains to obtain the best va- 

 rieties. Suppose }'ou have to give $20 

 or even $50 for a pair of pigs to begin 

 with. Is this an insufferable obstacle ? I 

 answer no. Doubtless you may procure 

 a good breed for less money, but let us 

 look at the practical proof, on the score of 

 economy and see how long it would take 

 to pay at these figures. Suppose you 



have 100 hogs of the alligator or land 

 pike breed which you sell at $5 per hun- 

 dred. 150 lbs at twelve months old will 

 be about all you can make them weigh. 

 Here you have $7 50. 



Again.'take 100 hogs of a good breed 

 which will weigh at the same age and 

 with less feed 250 lbs. Here you have 

 $12 50, making a clear profit of $5, with- 

 out taking into account the save in feed- 

 ing, which* would no doubt swell the pro- 

 fits to a much larger amount. A hog that 

 has to be kept more than one winter be- 

 fore fattening will eat his head off in all 

 cases. Hence the most profitable kinds 

 will be found in those hogs which attain 

 the greatest weight (without extra atten- 

 tion) in from 12 to 18 months. 



Pick for a hog with a small, clean head, 

 rather small bone, body low to the ground, 

 long and square: hams full and round; 

 disposition quiet and pleasant. Such a 

 hog will always insure a good return. If 

 you can come across such hogs, whether 

 called Berkshire, Woburn, Suffolk, Gra- 

 zier or what not, get some and try them. 

 They will not disappoint you. 



A word to the wise is sufficient. * * * * 

 Valley Farmer. 



From the Ohio Farmer. 

 The Disease amongst Hogs. 



Editor Ohio Farmer. — T send you 

 the following notice of an epizootic which 

 has been prevailing amongst the hogs in 

 this section of the country. A portion 

 of this notice w T as published in the Cin- 

 cinnati Gazette, but as your paper is par- 

 ticularly devoted to the agricultural inter- 

 ests of our community, I send you a more 

 minute description of this disease, and 

 also some experiments which were not 

 published in that paper. 



That a disease is extensively prevailing 

 among some of our domestic animals, is a 

 fact worthy of attention and record, and 

 the, loss to our farming community, in a 

 pecuniary point of view, makes this a 

 subject worthy of investigation. From 

 the large number of hogs that have died, 

 and from the fact that epizootics frequently 

 appear to be produced from the same gen- 

 eral causes, which give rise to epidemics, 

 and from the fact also that diseases of in- 

 ferior animals have not received the atten- 

 tion of physicians which they deserve, we 



