Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1883-11-22

This is the least expensive way to inn
prove the qualityof the pigs, as one
sire will answer for whole neighbor-
hood, and perhaps for a township, if
too much is not required of him. If
the females are small. or of medium
size, the sire should be of large and
more growthy breed Such a sire
would Increase the size of the pigs at
birth, giving them large frames. and
they would grow more rapidly and
attain greater weight when eight or
nine months old, at which age pigs
are usually fattened, and also, if kept
over, than pigs would attain if the
sire was the same as the mother. The
mothers if wellbred would import to
the offspring an inclination to make
flesh and fatten more rapidly than the
coarser sires. Chunky and small
boned dams will not produce as many
young at birth as coarser ones;
neither viii they furnish as much
milk. They are APP to be too fat to
make good mothers. These are OBJ
jections to this manner of breeding,
and for these reasons / prefer dams
of the coarser breeds.
The most profitable dam is one-long
and deep in the body, with large
mammalian development. When
such dams can be obtained, either
among natives or thoroughbreds, the
most profitable pigs may be obtained
by using a sire which is naturally
heshy, with fine eXtremities. Pigs
from such a cross VIII be of good size
when born, and the mothers viii
possess the development to make
them grow fat. The filters viii also
be large in,number, and the mothers
viii bear strongerfeed, more of which
viii go to produce milk rather than
flesh, as in the case of the smaller
and finer dams Pigs from such q
cross could be fattened at any age,
and would possess strong constitu
tons, good appetites, and inability to
digest and assimilate, their food to a
greater extent than if the mothers
were fine and chunky. 1t must be
remembered that those constitutional
peculiarities are impaired more by the
mother than by the sire, while the
sire imparts, more than the mother
form and style. There cannot be a
larger consumption of food, which is
necessary to make a large growth,
without a proportionate capacity of
stomach: neither can there be an eX
tonsive secretion of milk without a
proportionate development Of the
organs which perform this work and
of the udders to contain it. This rule
applies to sows as well as to cows,
hence, those are the most desirable
which exhibit these qualities.
Several varieties of swine have
been bred so long for style and beauty
to please the eye of fancy-that
they have become so chubby and fine
that the pigs cannot be made toweigh
more than 125 or 10 pounds when
eight or nine months old, and their
flesh is so fat that they are not desir-
able food. In the great porkproduc-
ing districts, as well as the markets,
such pigs are unpopular. Over-fat
/ pork is not desired. A large frame is
required with,more lean meat. The
more groathy breeds, like Poland
China, and the Jersey Red and Duroc,
two breeds of the Red Berkshire,
which possess the same qualities as
/ the Poland China, are rapidly sup
planting all of the finer breeds, for
the reasons that they attain nearly
double the size in the same length of
time of the latter. The large white
1 breeds Cheshire White, Cheshire
and Large Yorksh,re--are also losing
favor because their skins are more
delicate, which makes them more
liable to be affected with mango and
sunbun in summer aud scab in win
ter. The want of good coats of hair
of the latter two also units them for
exposure and enduring the extremes
of climate. The Victorias, another
white breed, are mediumin size with
good coats of hair. They are well
adapted for farm and family use be-
cause of the quality Of their meat and
medium size. There are families of
Berkshires medium size. The latter
is also an excellent breed and makes
a profitable cross upon coarser breeds.
p. d. Curtis, an N y Tribune