32 



FARMERS^ BULLETIN 874. 



istics in a herd and makes improvement possible in a shorter time 

 than where selection alone is used. It stands to reason that if desira- 

 ble characteristics can be intensihed, the same will be true of unde- 

 sirable ones. Much of the disaster which seems to have followed 

 inbreeding has probably been due to the fact that this point was over- 

 looked or given only slight importance, and thus loss of vitality and 

 constitution and susceptibility to disease have followed. Therefore 

 if the young breeder contem])lates inbreeding, he should avoid matings 

 that tend to unite similar defects. Not only should care be taken to 

 prevent this in the animals mated, but there should be no chance 

 of bad effects due to the inheritance of undesirable characteristics 

 from parents and other ancestors. Some of the greatest work ever 

 done in hog breeding has been based on these principles. 



The straight corn diet, which many hogs receive from one year's 

 end to the other also lessens vitality, and the researches of the Wis- 

 consin Experiment Station have shown that this is probably brought 

 about by retarding the development of the vital organs. A minimum 

 of inbreeding and a varied diet, including, especially for breeding 

 stock, ample range, will therefore better enable the herd to resist 

 the attacks of disease. 



ADVANTAGE OF ISOLATED HOG HOUSES. 



The advantage of a number of small portable houses, each accom- 

 modating a few hogs, rather than one large piggery for the entire 

 herd has been referred to previously. In districts where cholera is 

 prevalent these are undoubtedly the best shelters. They make it 

 more difficult to carry contagion to all animals in the herd, and the 

 destruction of one of them in case of an outbreak does not entail a 

 great expense. An added advantage is that they may be moved 

 from place to place as needed. While more work is necessary in 

 feeding, the convenience and safety from their use more than offset 

 this disadvantage. 



QUARANTINE RESTRICTIONS. 



Whenever any animals are brought to the farm, or when animals 

 are brought home from shows or from neighboring farms, they should 

 be kept apart from the rest of the herd for at least three weeks. If 

 they have been exposed to hog cholera or swine plague the diseases 

 will be manifested within this time, and the sick animals can be treated 

 or killed and disposed of at once. 



If cholera breaks out in the neighborhood the farmer should main- 

 tain a strict quarantine against the infected herds. He should refrain 

 from visits to farms where they are located, and should insist on 

 requiring that his neighbors stay out of his hog lots. Dogs, cats, 

 crows, and buzzards may carry the infection from farm to farm and 

 should be guarded against as far as possible. 



