The Dupuyer acantha. [volume] (Dupuyer, Mont.) 1894-1904, 1898-12-08
Georgia Razor-Backs.

/ will make some jottings from my
experience as a swine breeder in the
south, for the benefit of my brother
breeders in the east and west, writes
Geo. M. Prescott in Western Swine
herd. My father was a slave holder
and southern planter; a breeder of ra-
zor-back hogs of all the different
strains-red, yellow, white, spotted and
red and black. He raised many hogs
and fed them literally to his slaves.
When only seven years old / fell in
love with a little blue SOW shoat owned
by a wealthy gentleman. / asked him
to give me the shoat. To my joy he
smilingly replied, well, George, you
fathers house and soon found that he,
too, was in love with the little blue
SOW. From her he received blood
which greatly improved his Georgia
ra~zor-backs. This incident occurred
just fifty years ago, and I have pursued
the calling with pleasure and profit
from that day to this. Your readers
will understand that there is quite a
difference between a hog-raiser and a
breeder. My operations for many
years were confined to native breeds
or razor-backs, but I found that this
genus was not responsive. Develop
ment was slow and tedious. I could
get nothing to come up to my ideals
and l abandoned the task, believing the
breed to be susceptible to no satisfac-
tory development. Today the best l
can say for any specimen of razor
back is that he is better than no hog.
Like his w~ire-grass owner, he has no
past nor future-he just exists by
chance and fills, for the present, the
space he happens to fall into when
evolved from the womb of fortuity.
You have heard something of late of
this hogs good qualities-his iron con
stitution, his power to resist disease
and his ability to secure his own food,
etc. Now, any one who Is familiar
with the breed knows hat he Is not
constituted or made to have a consti-
tuition. He has no good, solid back, no
heart girth, no roomy sides to promote
digestion. AS to his power to resist
disease he is woefully deficient, on the
contrary If there is disease near or far
his rowing disposition leads him to
ferret it out. He catches on and it
holds on. Any hog will secure his
food If it is convenient. No honest
man wants a hog that will secure his
own food dishonestly-that Is by
breaking into his neighbors' fields. II
l should exhibit a specimen before
| m ~ pnfnot iIt6nno tho NnpIinf would
be, he is made to get further-and
that he can do to perfection. You
know there is much talk about the
bacon hog. Some breeders imagine
that a FLORIDA razor-back' crossed
On their blooded sows will give them
the hog for which the near future holds
demand. Let the rich man expert
ment, let the poor mar watch and
wait. Turn a wire-grass boar shoat
with a lot of queenly gifts on a west
ern farm and the breeder will have tC
burn out to get clear of the faint.
have experimental with all the popu-
lar breeds and have found good quail
ties in all, and the Poland-China hog
to be the best for my use. I believe
this nog to be the best for the south
though no blooded hog can be kept tt
his normal size in the south. Will
proper care, pasture and feed, how
ever. he will be profitable and larg'
enough, though not so large as in hi
native section. If l had space l coulC
explain, but it is we'll that it is so.
think we ought to be satisfied with on
cotton, and let our western brother
breed and raise large hogs and have
good living when they earn it.
would not, if l could, raise all the cot
ton and large hogs and leave m,
brothers destitute. ] rejoice in thei
success and bemoan my fate. Bloode'
stock not appreciated and cotton fv
cents.
A few weeks ago a breeder at Well
, man, Iowa, shipped a pair of half-bre
French Coach geldings to the Eas
; Buffalo market and sold them at auo
: ton to R. Howarth for export to Lon
+ don, for $575. The geldings ha
, abundant action, were nicely matche
' and had plenty of substance. OF lat
many fine pairs, got by French Coac
t stations, have been disposed of j
$ that market. A pair bred in Canad
brought $500; a pair shipped from Ill
e nois brought $3.50, and several oths
d pairs from $500 to $500. These horse
e ranged close to the 1900 pound mar
in weight and were without exceptio
taken for export.
= Makeshift Coops.-Makeshift cool
: invite disease and vermin and encou
c age rat d~epredations. Chickens don
pay" is the chronic song of the ms
v who tries to raise chicks in poor, mi
# cradle. u~nsightly coops. How cou
n they pay under such circumstances?
% Maine Farmer