HOGS 
119 
form a carload, getting the advantage of the higher price 
paid at the central market. 
Raising Pigs.—A permanent success in raising hogs 
depends upon the production of those pigs which are 
fed on the farm. Thus, if the farmer produces his own 
feed and his own feeding stock, there is no great amount 
of speculation involved. He sells a finished product 
without involving the expense and labor of harvesting 
and of removing a large amount of fertility from the 
soil. 
Fig. 84 .—Hogging down com. 
The most important step in profitable pig growing is 
the selection of the right kind of sows. Regardless of 
breed, a sow should show the type demanded in a mar¬ 
ket animal, namely, a strong, wide, deeply fleshed back; 
smoothly covered shoulders; plump, well-rounded hams, 
and a trim neat underline. It is doubtful if a sow 
is profitable if she does not raise seven or eight pigs 
in each litter. Two litters each year are produced by 
good sows. Just before the pigs are farrowed, the 
mother should be placed where she will make her bed in 
a selected corner. A portable hog house as shown in 
