Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-10-22
Best Pig. to Breed From.

Those people who take heed OF the falla-
eiOus notion advanced by some interested
breedbts and repeated by noodles whose igno-
rance should shield them from blame, that
an Inferior, or even defective, thoroughbred
is better TO breed from than very perfect
grade will do to fonder on the following
sound statement Of principle, from the
Buffalo Live Stock Journal
There is probably no animal that ia breed
ing proves more strongly the law that "like
produces like" than the pig. t.
We wish that farmers would study this
question Of breeding only from the best more
than they do Let us take the case of
SOW that is kept for breeding for two years,
and farrows four ltters Of pigs of six, or
tweuty.four in all. Suppose she is q mine
ing eater, has weak lungs and defective
digestion; her pigs win inherit these defects
intensified Each Of these will weigh fifty
pounds less at one year old than if they had
been strong healthy pigs, and this will entail
loss on her progeny (twenty-four pigs) Of
1000 pounds, which at five cents amounts
TO $50. IL will thus be seen that the
breeder would make $50 by giving away
such pig and paying $40 for good one to
put in its place. But suppose it be boar
instead Of SOW pig, thus wanting in consti-
tutioDal vigor, and that he serves only ten
sOws that produce twenty -four pigs each dur.
ing the period Of breeding, or 240 pigs, and
that these pigs are worth one dollar less than
those sired byA boar of the best constitution !;
here is loss of S240 resulting from an 10.
judicious selection Of boar. 1t may fire..
quently be the case that pig is not worth
raising, as a matter Of profit, even for feed
ing, and how much less is it worth keeping
as breeder. This rule applies as well to
thoroughbreds as to mixed or common breeds.
There seems to be quito a prevalent idea
that an animal must be fit breeder if a
thoroughbred, but there are defective animals
of every breed, and they ought to be dis.
carded, however valuable may be the strain
Of blood, else this defect will be perpetuated
and intensified, and this fashionable strain
will lose its reputation. 1t is just as ueces-
sary to discard poor specimen of Berkshire,
Essex, Suffolk, or Yorkshire as of common
scrub, and breeders of the thorosghbreds are
very short-sighted in sending out defective
animals simply because they are pure.hloods.
No Improvement can be expected without a
constant selection of the best animals as
breeders. Pedigree is of great value, but
there should Away be individual merit with
pedigree. Having shown the great loss
annually in neglecting to select the best ami
Ia fop hRoaAtnsv lak,, L. l..
tions should be made.
After good form, with full development
Of all the useful parts, and a small proportion
Of offal, eager appetite and good digestion
are irst requisites to good breeding animal
As the hog is kept expressly for its growth
Of meat, and this growth is greatery in pro-
portion to food tho younger the animal,
therefore one primary point is early matur.
ity. Those breeds that require eighteen
months to two years to mature sufficiently
for marketing are Improbable, as the cost Of
every pound put on during the last six
months is about double that of the first year.
This quality Of early maturity may be inn
proved in any breed by selection for that
purpose. In almost every litter Of pigs there
is one or more that develops more rapidly
than the rest--flls out all its proportions
into ripeness. Such pig should be selected
for breeder, and this method will in a few
years, materially shorten the time of maturing.
II is the same with grain, by selecting the
early and most perfect heads for seed. The
system Of pork-raising is gradually changing,
and the old period Of two years and upward
is generally reduced to eighteen months, and
and with many breeders to twelve months
The pigs intended for market should never be
kept beyond twelve months for profit, and the
early-maturing breeders are more prO6tably
disposed OF at ten months.