St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1896-02-01

counting tho cost of feed in relation to
their respective values at slaugL Ter
ing time. The idea that anything is
good enough for q meat hog" is cost
ing farmers thousands OF dollars an
nualiy.
The first thing to be done is to &C.
lect some one of the improved breeds
It is not very important which. and
our ticket is anything to beat the
scrub" Having selected the breed we
desire to raise, the next thing is to Sc
cure good representatives Of that
breed. There are two things to
be considered in selecting an
animal for breeding purposes.
First, pedigree; and, second. individual
merit It is generally thought that
the time which the farmer would spend
studying the pedigrees OF breed Of
hogs would be lost, but no greater mis-
take could be made. Certain families
in all breeds have become fashionable
because they have shown superior
qualities, and it is evident that, other
things being equal. the animal whose
ancestors have shown excellence will
be most likely to produce progeny Of
excellence. Therefore any person who
is going to put money into any breed
Of hogs should know enough about
the families of that breed to select
those most likely to produce good off
spring. To select an animal of high in
dividual merit requires q knowledge Of
what constitutes the best type of the
y, sc1 10x0 ~ Ia ~
tanned by study and inspecting good
specimens. Because one has . better
hog and . finer-looking animal than q
razor-back is no proof that it is not .
scrub There are . number of men
who offer for sale what they claim to
be the best strains of the different
breeds who do not know the st rains of
their respective breeds. In honest
ignorance many of them are infic ting
on their. equally-ignorant customers
animals just. . little removed from the
razor-back. This Is due to the fact
that they have bought their stock from
persons who, like themselves. had
never seen the best of the breed,
or from breeders who, against
their own interest. and the dictates of
their c0nsciences. sold them their
''culls" because they were not willing
to pay more than s4nll' prices. Many
people place too smkH value on quail
ty in hog; with them one hog is as
good Us another; and so long as he is q
thoroughbred and eligible to regisitra
ton they are satisfied. Scrubs of the
thoroughbred class are numerous, and
therefore an animal must be some
thing more than, thoroughbred. He
i worth q good: price and will bring
It. !. Most people in the south think SO
. .hSG pcic6 for . boar pig three or four
months old. when Ia truth, II he is
good enough to save as q breeder he
IS worth many times that in one
year to almost any farmer. One
noted Berkshire breeder in Mis-.
souri, sold nearly 200 head in
1894 at an average of SIS each
Still I have known men to send him
s2s with the request that he send them
in exchange = ''iirst-class Pig" and
when they failed to get such were dis.
appointed. Is it reasonable to suppose
. man would sell . first-ciass pig for
about half the price he gets for his
average?
II the prospective purchaser has had
sufficient experience toknow what con-
stitutes . first-class animal, and can
make the purchase after . personal in
spection Of the stock. he may find some
young and unknown breeder who will
sell him q first-class animal in breeding
and quality for from sl2. 50 to S25, but
| il he has not had this requisite expe-
rience. or must buy by mail order,
then the only safe plan is to buy Of
some well-known breeder and pay Z
good price. say from e25 to $50. Al
present . great many in the south are
sending north for first-class pigs. but
owing to the fact that they are not
willing to pay first-class prices, are
| getting scrubs At scrub prices. Our
state is serving as dumping ground
for interior animals OF the northern
breeders because we are unwilling t.
pay the prices that good animals will
| command. An inferior animal is tot
dear for breeding purposes IT any
price, while good one is cheap 1T any
reasonable figure. From SIS to $50 il
considered price beyond the reach o.
j ordinary farmers This is true to = Ger
tain extent. but any neighborhood vii
furnish 1--WE men who can afford to PAL
j $40 each for boar. and one boar viii
do the work required by five sveragt
formers. One boar will be able TO &c
At least 100 pigs each year. It thes'
PIGS arc worth 50 cents moro each =
killing time than those from the scrul
now in use, be has paid for himself tn
first year. This i plain statement
11ad yet few. will act upon l. Tn
I.arRth Is that these pigs will be wortl
from g to SO more killing. time an
will have consumed less food.
rn rrrr OF BOAR 10 sf SELECTED
f",k piR less than four or I'VE month
/. should not be selected. o before tina
| aRe It is impossible 10 form . sufficient
.l.ly-aecurate opinion - to his future de
lvelopEnent The breeding boar 'shoul'
he 81 anedium sire. smooth build
| straight strong lsgA short neck an
heavy compact BODY, Particular atten
ti6n should bepeid 70 shs quality rathe
than to the si1a The shoulders shout
not b the largestpaEt Of the body. b
lca1se not the most valuable. Proceed
ine- from tho head % the hams th
kmeot esadaally increases ! In value
lhenoe- tho .hAns ahosld b large in.Prc
[nortipn "a he. pest ~ .&ha hndvs- I'll
ode. that atE =. AtFAiR htedea s4son
seou,ael Omn:s-.xs.xts 49, II II. ~