The age-herald., 1898-02-24
ALABAMA SWINE BREEDERS Meet in Semi-Annual Session in
 This City.
 THE PRESIDENTS ADDRESS Paper by W. K Pickens, of Livingston. Ably piscussed-Lecture by Dr. Curry, of
 Auburn Session Today.

The secp i'd annual me ting of the Ala bama Swine Breeders association was called to order yesterday morning in the rooms of the Commercial club by President Samuel M. Hanby, with Secretary J. B. Wordsworth at the desk.
 A number of prominent breeders were present from different parts of the state and others are expected today.
 President Hanby then delivered the fol- lowing address:
 Gentlemen of the Alabama Swine Breed
 CTS Association:
 We are gathered here to take counsel together, to compare notes, to learn from each other and to lay plans for the ad- yancement of the object for which this association was organized.
 To engage in the improvement of do- mestic stock is a laudable undertaking If he is a public benefactor who causes two blades of grass to grow where but one grew before, no less is he a benefac- tor who doubles the quantity and im- proves the quality of butter, milk pork.
 In all lines of manufacture and of agri- culture overproduction and keen compet- tion have led to careful study and experi- ment to cheapen the cost of production and improve the quality of the product
 Eighteen years ago, when the manufac- ture of iron was begun in the Birmingham district the startling announcement was made that pig iron could be made here at cost of $10 per ton That it is now made for half that amount or less causes little surprise. And yet we have the same raw material now as then, the difference being largely in improved methods of ma nipulation.
 It has not been so many years ago that the dairy COW that could produce four teen pounds of butter in seven days com manded the admiration of dairymen and fanciers, but when we read of that "queen of the dairy" Princess II, producing 46 pounds 12R ounces of butter in the same number of days, we get some idea of what has been done in improved dairying We all recall with pride the phenomenal rec ord made by the Alabama Cow, Lily Flag, in a twelve months test, leading the world.
 Scarcely less remarkable is the improve ment in swine, the improvement being in shape. size, prolificacy and the capacity for assimilating food, converting 1t into meat and in rapid and early development We have so many examples where weight of TOO to 1000 pounds acquired at from six teen to twenty-four months that they scarcely cause comment. A noteworthy example of rapid increase in weight is the seven days test made by MT. w. E. Spicer, now of Bushnell, H., with his su- perb SOW, Number Seven. when forty-six pounds were added to her weight in seven days, an average of a trife over, six and a half pounds per day, weighing at the end of the test 67S pounds. However, under present conditions I regard the attainment of extraordinary size and the rapid In crease of weight in mature animals of less importance than the early and rapid growth of the pig. To be able to turn off his shoat of 200 to 300 pounds at six to eight months is of threefold advantage to the farmer. It decreases the hazard of loss by disease, saves the amount of food thai WO1Il6 he for ance, and enables him to turn his money oftener, not to mention the slightly in- creased price which this class always se- cures on the market. Just how to accom- plish such results is the proper and im- portant subject for study and experiment by the farmer and of discussion at such occasions as this.
 Much attention is being given to this part of the problem of improved swine breeding by the breeders throughout the country, but 1t has been left to Alabama believe, and to valued member of this association. to carry off the laurels in the production of the heaviest litter of pigs at 100 days, 973 pounds being the weight attained nine of the ten pigs making the remarkable average of l01 pounds each. l recommend that considerable time be given to this subject at this meeting
 Another subject of vital importance to the swine breeder is that of diseases of swine, particularly swine plague or hog cholera It is with much satisfaction I note that Secretary of Agriculture Wilson has during the past season been giving this subject much attention, and has put on foot experiments in several states with a view to prevention or cure of the disease I am of the firm conviction that the chol- era problem will never be solved until the government takes control of the situation Pleura pneumonia in cattle I believe has been put under almost perfect control in this manner-why not hog cholera? The Canadian system. I am informed, has been quite successful in controlling the disease.
 I suggest, if 1t is found advisable, that