Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1890-05-29
AGRICULTURAL HINTS,
CATTLE VS.. HOGS.

CATTLE VS.. HOGS.
An How. swine-Breeder Critacises Pre-
MUM Lists.
Ihave known for long time, says q
writer in the Breeders Gazette. that
agricultural societies in general, If not
invariably, offer far more money for cat
tie than for hog premiums, and 1 have
| sometimes wondered why the difference
was SO great, and the more I think
about it the more / wonder what good
reason they have for offering any more
TOR cattle than for hog premiums 1
have just consulted several leading
State fair premium lists and I find
that four of them offer nearly four times
IS much for cattle as for hogs, on the
average. Is this right? Is it justice to
| the swine-breeders? If it is some one
will be able to show in logical way
why it is that cattle deserve larger pre-
miums than hogs; but until we see some
better reason advanced than merely the
fact that all agricultural societies do
offer far more for cattle than for hog pre-
miums will take the ground that hogs
are not being recognized. in proportion
to their worth as compared with cattle in
premium lis is of our agricultural fairs.
But perhaps cattle are more arSstOcrot-
ic. I imagine there are some people
who think so, for once heard remark
that indicated as much. It was at
meeting of the Iowa State Board of Ag-
riculture. was there as one of COM
mittee appointed by the State Swine
Breeders Association to present to the
board our needs at the annual State
fair, and among other things we were
a., kA1 - tot H. IL kr;
ing Tor rather re-electing) the same man
as superintendent of the swine depart
ment for another year. But we were
told by one of the members of the
board mot one of the members of the
not have the same man again as our
superintendent. ''For," said he, she is
too good a man not to be promoted, and
we will have to give him the cattle this
year." I had never looked at it in the
light of promotion" to go from our
''hog house. to the seattle barn." but
from the above statement, and from the
fact that much larger amounts are of
fered for cattle than for hog premiums,
it does look as though most fair man.
ayers do consider it promotion and do
believe cattle more aristocratic.
in cattle-raising than in hog-raising?
Certainly not; and furthermore the cat
tle-feeding industry (even in the ''corn
belt'' States) could not long survive
without the hog, for in the last five
years there is scarcely cattle-feeder in
the United States whose ba1ance-sheet
would not show loss except for the
pork produced by hogs cleaning after
the cattle. Therefore the cattlemen
themselves are directly interested in
the keeping up ard still further inn:
proving the quality of our swine that
rich soil into meat for the millions
and at the same time puts back upon
the soil the richest of fertilizers. Are
they, then, not under-estimated in pre-
MUM lists as compared withcattle?
Do you think it less trouble or ex-
pense to exhibit swine than cattle? If
SO you are mistaken. The railroad trans
portation is the same, but when you ar
rive at your railroad destination you
can at once unload your cattle and walk
them right off to their stalls in the fair
ground, while the swine exhibitor has
to pay wagon transportation to and from
the fair ground and perhaps wait for
there is more hard work loading and
unloading one car of hogs in crates than
there is in handling five cars of cattle.
So we claim that in the line of trouble
and expense the swine should be en-
titled to the larger premium.
If it took more brains to breed fine
ca title than it does to breed fine, SYM
metrical hogs, there might be reason
for giving cattle the preference. But no
man who has had extensive experience
in breeding both will deny that it takes
as much brains to breed good hogs as it
does to breed good cattle; and certainly
no one will deny that their place on the
farm is as important to the farmer as
his cattle, for 1 will venture the asser-
ton that there are ten men that have
lifted the mortgage from the farm with
hogs to one that paid it with cattle.
Ask any banker, money-lender or bust
ness man what is the most frequent ex-
preston from farmers as to when they
can pay a note or an account; they will
almost universally tell you it is 'When
1 sell my hogs" Very seldom, indeed,