The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1884-02-15
sHIAwAssEE COUNTY NOTES.
THE FLocKs AND HERDS OWNED BY
l.. W. d O. BARNES.
From the Michigan Farmer.

ern portion OF Shiawassee County we
found, after day spent in making
the acquaintance of some of the flock
masters there, that the shades of eve.
ming were gathering in upon us, and
we were yet few miles from the
Lake View Farm owned by l.. w. &
o. Barnes. Feeling confident that
the latchstring Of every stockman's
door was on the outside when rep
resentative of the Michigan Farmer
was In the vicinity, We drove at an
accelerated pace to their farm. We
were cordially received and soon felt
much at home beside the fire, after
enjoying good supper, for which
our appetite was well fitted, after rid
ing in the cold. The evening was
pleasantly passed talking stock mat
tiers, telling such stories as usually
come before such meeting, and the
clock had proclaimed some Of the
small hours of the night before we re-
tired.
Soon after daylight in the morn
ing we equipped ourselves with over,
coat and mittens, and started to view
the Poland Chinas, for which this
place has become quite noted We
were first shown lot Of young sows
that have been bred and are for sale.
They were fine lot, of nearly solid
color, qnite uniform in size-for hav-
ing been selected from several filters,
and carry heads and hams that are
equal to all one could wish. We were
anxious to see the stock from which
these young sows came, and were
next shown the brood sows and then
the sires, or bears at the head OF the
herd. A view OF the breeding stock
began to unveil to us the secret of
their success as breeders, as they have
none in the herd but that will score
very high as to scale of points. We
were shown fine lot of young bears
that ought to give satisfaction at the
head Of herds, either TO breed for the
show pen or for the pork market.
The Messrs. Barnes began breeding
Poland Chinas in 1873. Their first
purchases were from Shepard & Alex.
ander, Of Charleston, Ill. In 1876
and 1877 they purchased stock Of c.
w. Jones, of Richland, rich in the
blood of Alex. l. and Perfection 447.
In 1873, they returned to same place
and selected stock sired by Jones'
Butler c, 9o5, and Shortail Perfec.
ton 1853. Again in '7o, they select
ed stock from Jones herd sired by
Nero 1867 and Sambo 1887, out OF
the grand sows Bessie Grant, Viola
I'd and l. x. l.. In 1881, they made
additions to their herd by selecting
some choice specimens from the
Jones herd, of Richland, James M
Horizons herd Of Rochester, Ohoi,
and Levi Arnold's herd, of Plainwell,
Mich, representing stock OF the u.
S. 1875, Hopeful oar, and the noted
Tom Corwin and ao37. 1t will be
seen at once that no pains or expense
have been spared in the founding oil
this herd.
The boar Curley's U. S. s,oI head
ed the herd in 1884, and proved to
be one of the best of sires, as we'll az
one of the grandest show hogs in the
State. AT the head of the herd now
stands the boar U. s. A. 1890. He
won first premium in litter and first
as boar under one year old in 1882;
also first at State Fair, grand diploma
as best boar of any age, and first at
Central Fair, Lansing, in 1883. He
was sired by Curly's u. S. out OF
Cora Bell 1886. To assist this boar
in the busy season, and to raise pigs
not akin 10 those sired by u. S. A.,
they bought OF c. w. Jones the boar
x. l.. 446o, that was sired by Aaron
I24I out Of l. x. l.. 1890. Then
they have in use the boar l. X. l..
Chief 1885, bred by Mr.. c. w. Jones,
whose sire was Arthur 2I63, out of /.
x. l.. 9TH ssaS. The boar to which
they have bred most of the Young
sows is Black Zach, bred by c. w.
Jones, sired by Zach 44oo, full
brother to Duffield and Shellenberg-
er's famous boar Look No Further
1905. Comments by us on these
bears are unnecessary. The boar u.
S. A. is well known to be exceeding
ly well developed in all desirable and
essential points, but their boar x. l..
beats him in fore shoulder and sprir g
of the RIB, and is equally as good in
| tho hon.