358 
PRACTICAL PAPERS—THE “ COMING HOG.” 
Bengal. And tlien the fine boned, small hog that would find 
a market at any moment near the Atlantic cities, and which 
matures at ten to twelve months, may not find a market at 
that age, and has to “ slop over ” four or five months, in the 
hands of the western farmer. The idea that a certain breed 
will make more pork to a given amount of feed than another, 
does not alone establish its superior claims to merit. 
This is true, all other things being equal, but of itself, it is 
not true. We distinctly remember a certain gentleman who 
labored carefully for years for a cherished result of this char¬ 
acter, and when he accomplished it, he found his sows brought 
him four pigs at a litter, and generally one litter a year. And 
then again, the hog that has “ vital force ” enough to suit the 
best conditions of development up in Maine, will neither take 
on fat nor nurse well down in Louisiana or Texas. 
We do not urge anything in general terms against any par¬ 
ticular breed of hogs, for there are peculiarities of climate and 
market in the country, to which certain breeds may be more 
or less, or exactly suited. We really think there are, and 
think we could name the breeds and localities, but there are 
other localities, climates, methods of production and market 
uncertainties to which no distinctive breed of hogs in exist¬ 
ence is exactly suited. 
AVhile we utterly disclaim the offering of our opinions in 
any other than the suggestive form of investigation, we accept 
the risk of mentioning what we regard as some of the requi¬ 
sites of a good hog in all climates and localities. First of all 
then, is appetite. We want a good eater—a perfect gour¬ 
mand—one that Is always hungry, and will eat a little more 
after he feels that he has eaten enough ; and breeding sows 
should have this appetite cultivated to the utmost extent, 
while growing, as well as while with pig. Next in importance 
is rapid and liberal reproduction. If a breed of hogs be 
not prolific, it lacks in a most important point. It makes a 
large item in the general results of pork growing, whether a 
breeding sow has one or three litters of pigs in a year. An 
23—Ag. Tr. 
