The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-06-08
TIE HOG FOR BACON USES
OPPORTUNITY FOR COMPETE
TON WITH CANADA

The Demand fer Enron Hogs for Ex-
port-Incrensed Price Paid for
Canadian Product Over Our Own
The Secret of Success Exists in
Methods OF Fccdins--Importan
of Selecting Proper Breeds.
1t must have been noted by every intelli-
gent farmer in the Northwest having access
20 journals treating of agriculture and breed
ng subjects, that during the past year many
opinions concerning the bacon hog his value
and how to breed him and mature him, and
7repare him for market have been advanced.
L is probably true that the cultivation OF
my particular breed of hog with view,
Principally, to marketing him for bacon uses,
sas been neglected In this country on the
theory that any hcg in the feed lot that de-
clined TO take fat unon him was good enough
.or use as bacon. This, however, is an error,
and no one has endeavored so consclentiousiy
and earnestly TO correct this impression and
to educate farmers and breeders up to
realization that there is field for profit in
raising the distinctively bacon hog, as Prof.
Thomas Shaw, of the Minnesota Agricultural
college.
Theory, after all. is he basis of educa-
ton; experiment on the lines Of theory re-
suits in demonstration. This is the begin
ming of practical knowledge on any subject.
The remarkable accomplishments of Scotch
ma English breeders OF live stock of every
class are the direct results of theories, in the
FIRST instance. followed by the demonstration
II the correctness of those theories by en-
pertinent, ana the reaping of rewards by
carving the principles evolved into prac-
teal intelligent operation. Out OF all these
efforts of the English and Scotch breeders
have come the splendid strains OF
animal qualities which render famous the
ShortEcrn the Herefords, the Ayrshire, the
Aberdeen Angus and other breeds OF beer,
as well as dairy cattle; and also, the off
Cersnt breeds of horses, sheep ana hogs, the
registered representatives of which have beeh
the sires and dams of all that is best in the
live stock species in the United States
The bacon hog is an object of careful cul-
tivaticn by the Canadian farmers, and like
wise the source of considerable profit The
Canadian bacon is popular with the English
man and it is raised and prepared chiefly
with a view to supplying the English mar
kets Only a few weeks ago the fact Was
publicly noted that while hogs were selling
for EXPORT in Chicago at $40 to s4.20 per
Toronto. also for export, at from $3.50 to Sc
per hundred There was only one existing
reason for this difference in price, inasmuch
as the question of cost of transportation was
wholly eliminated from the respective trans
actions. That reason was the superiority
Of the Canadian hog that raised in the
United States for the particular uses to which
this product was to be applied
Briefly stated, the Englishman prefers his
pork lean while the tendency of the feeders
Of the American hog is to make him fat.
The more fat that can be piled on the sides
of our hog the better pleased the farmer
seems to be over the results. But the En-
glishman wants the lean to largely predom
mate in the sides over the fat, because that
meat makes better bacon, and he is after his
bacon. The American farmer insists upon
feeding his hogs with corn, and as much as
they will eat Of it. Meanwhile the Canadian
farmer feeds peas and barley, oats and rye
and varied rations consisting OF turnips,
beets, grass, bran and skim milk and little,
If any, corn. BY this means he produces
a hog exactly suited to the queens taste
and also to that of her subjects; and, mas
much as he cannot begin to supply the de-
nand, he is enabled to sell his hogs at from
% per cent to 90 per cent more than the
American farmer can secure for his product,
notwithstanding the added weight derived
from excessive fairness.
The Canadians breed for this service the
Yorkshire and Berkshire hogs, of which there
is an abundant supply on our own farms.
OF late years the Tamworth has come into
more general use. This animal is probably
the ugliest hog that was ever created. He
is of a tawny color, long, lank and slab
xrffb hat 10 dtSh-
turns up at the end like an old-fashioned
sled-runner. But he seems especially adapted
as material for English bacon, in that no
matter how freely he is fed he persists in
continuing lean, on the principle, apparently,
that being built that way, it Is not his mis-
sion to cucumber himself with fat. He Is
the sauciest and most impudent looking hog
that anybody ever saw. But he Is valuable
il the service for which he seems to have
been created, and that is more than a great
many men can say of themselves.
The field is open to farmers of the North
west to meet this demand. They have in the
Berkshire and the Yorkshire hogs the breeds
that are essential. All that is necessary to
enable them to compete with their Canad an
neighbors is to observe the same rules in
the matter of feeding and preparing for mar
ket. The hog should have all that he can
eat, but his appetite should be satisfied with
8 quality of food that will produce less fat
and more lean meat. The starving of the
hog to make him lean will not only stunt his
gG~wth, but 1t will vitiate the quality of his
meat 1t will pay farmers to give thought to
this subject and to follow up their thoughts
with practical test of the value of the sug-
gestions. But they should always remember
that to begin Alright attention must be giver
to breeds and their respective qualities, as
these are the outgrowth of the demonstration
by experiment of the truth of theory AND
the application of principles in the establish
ment of proofs through their practical oper.
alton. 1t is not necessary that the farmer