70 
The Breeding and Feeding of Pigs. 
carefully graded, and only those suitable for a particular 
customer’s trade should he sent to that customer, and the 
farmer advised to retain only those pigs which are likely 
to put on further weight at a profit. 
The Committee inquires into railway delays and other 
grievances of its members, and the weight it can bring to 
bear on the authorities concerned, in its corporate capacity, is 
naturally greater than that of a private individual. It is 
also able to further the course of business between the members 
themselves, the commission in these cases being shared between 
sender and purchaser. 
The expenses are kept as low as is possible in a business 
of this sort, and when it is stated that the commission on the 
majority of the pigs passing through the hands of the Society 
amounts to 6d. per head, it will be readily admitted that the 
Committee’s efforts in this direction have been very successful. 
Future Prospects. 
In forming an opinion as to whether pig breeding and 
feeding is likely to pi’ove a profitable part of the business of 
the English farmer in the near future one must bear in mind 
that it takes roughly 5^ to 6 stone of corn to produce one stone 
of pork, it therefore follows that at the present prices of both 
foreign and English corn it is impossible to breed and feed pigs 
at a little under 6s. per stone, the price now current, and show 
any adequate return for the trouble and outlay. Should the corn 
trade continue firm, a better trade for pork must not be 
expected until farmers have reduced their stock by placing 
their pigs on an already overladen market, and have fatted and 
killed a part of their breeding sows. The trade which will 
have been going from bad to worse, will, I would venture to 
suggest, then take a sharp turn for the better, prices will rise 
as the supply of bacon runs out, and once again we shall look 
on the pig as the gentleman who paj^s the rent. 
In conclusion, I beg to tender my best thanks to the 
members of the Pigs Committee of the Eastern Counties’ 
Farmers Co-operative Association and their manager, Mr. 
Maurice Wright, for the help they have kindly given me in 
the preparation of these notes. 
W. Wilson. 
Baylham Hall, Ipswich. 
