Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1878-02-22
The Hog.

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The following is an abstract of his re-
marks furnished us by Mr.. Wait of the
College Of Agriculture
At this time the value of hogs is de-
preciated, and there are many causes
why this is so, but give us a little more
hog cholera and plenty Of money and
prices will again rise.
The wild boar from which all breeds
of hogs sprung, is still in existence.
The great contrasts in different breeds
arc. mostly due to the changed condi-
tons and the different aims OF breeders.
The hog of China is perhaps the most
perfect animal for fat that we have,
and from crosses with this animal have
we secured our most valuable breeds.
From which breed can | make the most
money? From which breed realize the
greatest profit on the money invested?
are questions the breeder asks himself.
We must give up aesthetics in hog breed
ing and aim for the greatest amount of
flesh for the least food, coupled with
early maturity.
In naming the various breeds | first
take the Poland China, because in my
estimation it is the best breed we have.
Where this breed originated is much
disputed, but this is a fact, it contains
a great amount of the blood of the China
hog. The name Poland is a misnomer,
for we have no evidedce that any of the
breed ever saw Poland. The Poland
China and it's crosses predominant in
the Chicago market, thus showing their
popularity as a breed, and nine out of
every ten Of hog breeders prefer this
breed. The animals of this breed have
a quiet disposition, are good feeders, are
good mothers. lay on fat readily, and
come to maturity early. 1t has been
noticed that pigs with hollow backs and
dish faces fatten easily, while pigs with
narrow head and thin foces never fatten.
The Berkshire, as now bred is the
most symmetrical hog in the world, and
is emphatically the gentleman's hog:
The Essex is a small black breed and
have been very much lauded, but | be-
lieve the one excellence it lays claim to
is that of value for crossing with other
and larger breeds.
The Yorkshires are of two sizes, the
large and the small breeds. They light
do to keep for a corncrib, where lumber
is scarce and corn is plenty, and not
wanted for fuel, The Suffolk is a gen.
tleman's breed and will never pay the
common man what he costs. The Chest
err Whites and several other breeds may
be left out of the catalogue, because
they have been tried and found not to
supply the needs of the farmer. What
ever breed may be selected, | say stick
to your integrity, and don't expect a
crossbred to be better than its parents.
1t takes a long time to %establisha breed,
and only by care can you keep your an
imals up to the standard. 1t is worse
than folly for you to attempt to estab-
lish a new breed, for you will lose money
and fail in your attempt.
Food for hogs-Corn is prominently
the food for hogs it never killed a hog
nor never will. How to dispose of the
surplus corn was a question with the
early settlers, but the raising of hogs
has helped greatly in settling that ques-
ton.
The value of a hog depends on the
fact that he is a hog. His digestive Or
cans are never out of order, for who CIV
er heard of a hog having the stomach
ache. !?
MANY experiments have been made to
determine how many pounds OF pork a
bushel of corn will make, but these ex
periments only prove that under certain
conditions a bushel of corn will make
so many pounds of pork. The fact has
been established that young hogs lay on
fat the fastest, so what we want is ear
ly maturity together with good size.
When to buy, when to feed, and when
to sell are questions beyond the reach
of mortal ken. Will it pay to cook
food ? | think it will, at least for milk
sows and young pigs. Make their drink
palatable, for all animals fatten faster
if you can get them to drink an abund-
ance of fluids. Corn if merely soaked
is made more digestible, and in all feed
ing it must be borne in mind that it is
not the quantity ate, but the quality
assimilated that fattens the animal. The
value of the hog over other domestic
animals is: l. Because the flesh can
easily be kept a long time. 2. Because
of its remarkable fecundity often pro-
ducing as many as twenty pigs at a
dropping, And 3. Because he will eat
whatever is set before him and not
grumble if there is plenty of it. a hog
should never be allowed to squeal.
Giye a hog plenty to eat and drink, and
when sold guess at the profits in my
way.
The hog is naturally the most free
from disease OF any of our domestic
animals, and is valuable on that account.
The great enemy to hog raising is what
is known as Hog Cholera. 1t appears
in many forms but 1 think is a kind of
blood poisoning caused chiefly from
sleeping together in unwholesome, badly
ventilated stys. Think it is the poison
of the crowd and might be called sty few
er. l do not think that the raising of
hogs is demoralizing in itself, but is a
fact that no attention is usually paid to
ventilation. To those that are losing
many hogs would say-look to your
sly.
To all farmers l would say, keep no
more hogs than you can give good food
to, and furnish with we'll ventilated stys.
= Western Rural.
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