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THE RURAL 
NEW-VORKER 
January 11, 
THE STATE BREEDERS MEETING. 
The New York State Breeders’ Associ¬ 
ation met in Rochester December 17, with 
acting president Dr. C. D. Sinead in the 
chair, Albert E. Brown, acting secretary, 
and F. E. Dawley as treasurer. As to num- 
bers, tiiis association presents some contrast 
to the Western New York Horticultural 
Society, which shows 0 to 10 members pres¬ 
ent at its meetings, where the Breeders have 
one. This does not signify that the live¬ 
stock industry of the State is of relative¬ 
ly small importance. The meeting was at 
least enthusiastic, and the discussions at 
times very lively. This was especially the 
case when the old bone of contention, the 
appointment of qualified judges, came up 
for consideration. Many exhibitors feel that 
they are often at the mercy of incompetent 
or biased judges, and desire the establish¬ 
ment of a standard for expert judges. Local 
or smaller fairs cannot afford to pay sepa¬ 
rate judges for each class of live stock. A 
man may be an expert, judge on horses, but 
knows little about sheep or cattle, etc. In 
many cases it will be necessary to secure 
the services of an expert in one line who 
lias also a fair general understanding of the 
merits of stock in other lines, and let him 
do the best he can. That he should be a 
stranger to the exhibitors, and not biased in 
favor of exhibitors who happen to be in¬ 
fluential in the fair management, goes with¬ 
out saying, and if the judge then follows 
tile dictates of his own best judgment, witli 
honesty and good sense, lie might well fol¬ 
low the suggestions offered by one of the men 
who often act as judges at the fairs, when 
lie stated in the morning session that “he 
is a little deaf, and don't hear when dis¬ 
appointed exhibitors call him hard names.” 
The whole discussion, however, was a flash 
in the pan so far as action looking toward 
a change in the established rules of the 
Association in appointing judges is con¬ 
cerned. 
Fair Management was the title of a paper 
read by John P. Itay of Hemlock, who comes 
out fair and square in favor of “old-fash¬ 
ioned” honesty and cleanliness, and wishes 
to eliminate from our local, county and 
.State fairs all horse racing, fake shows, lot¬ 
tery and other schemes and money-making 
performances, and return to the exhibitions 
of farm products of our ancestors, pure and 
simple. It was too much to expect that this 
sentiment should go unopposed in a breeder's, 
convention. Other members pointed to the 
fact that money is needed, and that it takes 
horse racing, and all the oilier “modern 
improvements,” circus features Included, to 
draw the crowd and secure the means of 
running the fair. There is plenty of room, 
they said. “Whoever does not approve of 
horse races can stay away from the tracks 
or grand stand ; he will find enough to see 
elsewhere. One member suggested that this 
may lie on the principle of the advice given 
by the Semitic father to his son: “Make 
money, honestly if you can, but make 
money!” And so the matter was allowed 
to rest. 
“Swine Breeding From an Eastern Stand¬ 
point” was the subject of an address by 
Calvin J. Huson of Penn Yan, and exceed¬ 
ingly well and interestingly handled by flic 
speaker. He contrasted the low place which 
swine have at ail times occupied in the 
affection and estimation of mankind, with 
their great importance as a food product, 
and their high rank as money makers of the 
farm. He spoke of the evolution of the mod¬ 
ern type of hogs, which hardly resembles 
that of even a few years ago, and has now 
reached a high degree of perfection, keeping 
pace with that of other domestic animals. 
Some, he said, regard swine as a sort of 
necessary evil, principally for the utilization 
of by-products of the farm. Swine are often 
kept in ill-adapted buildings, cold in Win¬ 
ter and hot in Summer, witli small yards 
that have neither vegetation nor shade. Un¬ 
der such circumstances the animals live a 
miserable existence in filth and squalor until 
confined in the Fall, fed on corn and water, 
and when fat and sluggish, with thick and 
feverish blood, they are finally butchered. 
This is the prevailing practice, but not the 
way a breeder will treat the poor and de¬ 
spised hog. To show tile magnilude of the 
swine industry. Mr. lluson stated tHat there 
are about an even number of swine and 
cattle in the State, and some millions more 
swine than sheep. The western corn belt 
does not owe its prosperity to more favored 
soil, nor to its tremendous corn crops, but 
mainly to the fact that this corn crop is 
largely marketed in the form of pork as a 
finished product. In our own State we can¬ 
not undertake growing swine on the western 
scale, or less cattle or sheep, but there is 
Scarcely a farmer or fruit grower who could 
not add materially to his income by the 
intelligent production of pork without add¬ 
ing much to his labors or expenses. A large 
part of tlie pork now consumed in the State 
is. grown outside. We should at least pro¬ 
duce as much pork in the State as we con¬ 
sume. While the hog industry has disad¬ 
vantages, like oilier lines of production, yet 
we have here the best markets in the world 
—New York and Buffalo—and the producer 
can be sure of receiving at: least cent 
per pound more than is paid to the western 
producer. Pork and pork products are less 
subject to violent market fluctuations Ilian 
beef or mutton. Pork can be cured and kept. 
Beef and mutton must be mostly consumed 
fresh. Pork is the chief meat diet of those 
who work with their hands. There is more 
energy and more muscle-making power in a 
pound of pork than in a pound of beef or 
mutton. For all these reasons swine breed¬ 
ing is on a safe and firm foundation, and 
appeals strongly to the man of limited 
means. The product is always readily sal¬ 
able, and equivalent to a cash asset. To be 
successful in swine raising, however, one 
must attend to the little matters of detail 
which are so easily neglected. The speaker 
asserted that if the farmers of the .State 
would give their swine the same intelligent 
care and attention as they do to other 
breeding stock the swine industry would 
take its proper place in the stock industry 
of tlie State, and add largely to its wealth 
and prosperity. Now as to matters of de¬ 
tail. Breeding stock of swine should be 
tame and docile. A sow that is timid and 
sensitive, and kept in fear, is not profitable. 
Tlie hog that has confidence in the keeper 
will follow him in any place, even where 
other animals would refuse to go. This is 
one of the requisites of success. The daily 
visits to the breeding sow, scratching her 
back until she shows by grunts her satis¬ 
faction at seeing you, is time well spent. 
The aim of the breeder is to grow the pig 
in quickest possible time at least amount of 
feed. Tlie speaker’s practice is as follows: 
When a litter of pigs is two or three weeks 
old he begins to feed them sweet and clean 
milk in a trough in the corner where the old 
sow cannot go. Then he begins to feed 
dry middlings, and perhaps a few kernels 
of cracked corn, so they will learn to eat as 
soon as possible. He aims to have ills pigs 
come early in March. They have to be 
rather closely housed at that time. When 
they are 10 or 12 days old he provides a 
slatted partition so that they can lie sepa¬ 
rated from the sow. In the" morning after 
the pigs have nursed they are fed in the 
trough in their own part of the pen, and the 
partition is let down. The pigs can see the 
sow, and may run up and down the partition 
for exercise, lmt unable to get to the sow. 
At noon the partition is raised for tlie pigs 
to get back to nurse, after which they are 
again partitioned off; and the same at night. 
The pigs thus treated do much better and 
there is no loss from “thumps.” At times 
a little pig is noticed not doing well, often 
with tongue protruding from side of mouth. 
An examination will usually show that some 
of tlie teeth are sharp pointed like a needle, 
lacerating the tongue, and making it sore. 
These sharp points should be broken off with 
a pair of pincers (such as jewelers use), 
and if rough, filed smooth. This will put 
matters to right. The pigs are weaned 
from seven to 10 weeks old. Do not take 
them away to worry both over the loss of the 
mother sow and of their accustomed place. 
Leave them where they are. Immediately 
after nursing take the dam away quietly, 
which is easily done when she and her litter 
have been separated as they are accustomed 
to by the partition. Take the dam out of 
sight and hearing of tlie pigs. The latter 
Will hardly miss her if well fed right along. 
The difference in management in just this 
one point may make 25 pounds of difference 
in the weight of the pig at six months of 
age. 
We cannot expect great profits in hog 
raising if the product is made on all grain 
at present high prices. We must largely 
depend on pasture and by-products. The 
first pasture of the season is rye, then 
comes clover and other grasses, next rape, 
then perhaps rye (grains and all), next 
oats and peas. The growth must be made * 
chiefly on these cheap foods. A field of 
Alfalfa makes small grain bills. There is 
no other crop that will give equally large 
results. When we have no Alfalfa we can 
use clover. Either may be cut up fine, put 
into a barrel with meal added, and then 
steamed. It makes one of* the best pig ra¬ 
tions. In the Fall we use sorghum. One 
of the most important by-products are waste 
or refuse beans. Pigs do not like raw beans 
nor beans in any shape. But when steamed 
or cooked with a few carrots or beets, 
or cabbage, or, best of all, onions, pigs will 
eat them greedily and do well on them. The 
addition of molasses to beans also makes 
them palatable for pigs. Molasses is a 
most economical food with anything, even 
corn. Six pounds of corn and two of mo¬ 
lasses will give better results than 10 pounds 
of corn, especially if one pound of oil meal 
is added. Molasses now costs 1214 cents 
per gallon. It is not a high quality of mo¬ 
lasses, and rather thick, black and sticky, 
so that it may have to be thinned when 
foods are refused, being tlie refuse or left¬ 
over matter put in molasses, and the pigs 
will eat it greedily. When hogs cannot get 
to the bare ground they should be given all 
the charcoal they want, or all the wood 
ashes that are available and made on the 
place. A sow will easily make use of a 
quart of wood ashes a day. 
Mr. Huson keeps Berksliires, but lie does 
not recommend any particular breed of hogs 
to others. Each person should select that 
breed which does well under his particular 
management and conditions. One man may 
have better success with one breed, another 
man with another breed. The aim is to 
raise pigs that will weigh 175 to 275 pounds 
when ready for market at six months of 
age. There is now not the! wide difference 
between breeds that there once was. The 
difference is in fact growing less with every 
year. The butcher dictates the type and 
all breeds have to conform to the type. But 
tlie definite breeds should be kept pure. 
There should be no commingling of breeds, 
so that no particular breed will lose its dis¬ 
tinguishing points and characteristics. The 
breeding should be followed on consistent 
lines, with the main idea to secure an ani¬ 
mal that is- able to reproduce itself. 
The election of officers made tlie acting 
president, Dr. C. D. Sinead, president for 
the ensuing year, and returned Albert E. 
Brown as secretary, and F. E. Dawley as 
treasurer. t. g. 
For the land’s sake use Bowker’s Fer¬ 
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