Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1901-03-07
CROSS BREEDING.
An Iowa Farmer Tells Some Inter-
esting Experiences.


The question is often asked, Does
cross breeding weaken or strengthen
our stock?" Some think that the cross
breeding Of swine is one cause of swine
diseases, such as cholera, thumps, etc,
writes John II. Gun of Iowa in The
Prairie Farmer. Others think that
cross breeding has a tendency to de-
stroy the size of the offspring. l am
not as old as some who give their ex-
perience on such subjects, neither have
made farming my business from boy
hood, but from my personal experience
and knowledge l find In many cases
ruau cross breeding strengthens not on
ly in regard to health, but in general
endurance. The mule is by far the su-
perior of the horse when it comes to
hardness, strength and stamina. l
have never owned a bunch of pure
bred hogs of any of the many breeds,
and yet l have owned and cared for
hogs for 40 years, and have never had
a case of hog cholera and frequently
had a herd of 40 or 100 on the place
while cholera was raging all around. |
do not mean. however, to advance cross
breeding as Il preventive of swine
plague.
l attribute my escape to the fact THAI
l allow nature to take its course in re
gard to the wishes of my hogs. They
like freedom, and | give it; they like to
root, and | have usually allowed it, but
to the detriment Of my pasture. Above
all, through the hot weather they Ike
the wallOw and shade. This is point
upon which | lay great stress. Give
the hog plenty OF clear water to drink,
plenty Of blue grass or clover pasture
and good Wallow and do not give any
sour swill, and there will be less COM
plant in regard to cholera.
In regard to crossing to improve the
size of the hog. many breeders of pure
breeds may differ with me when |
make the assertion that many are find
ing that q pure bred Chester White
boar crossed with a PolandChina or
some other good breed of sow makes
larger hogs than when bred to one Of
its own breed, but such is the case.
Last January l turned a pure bred
Chester boar in with three Duroc Jer-
seys, three grade POlands and one
black Essex. They were all about alike
in size and bone The Essex showed
the best pigs from the start up to the
present time. The next best are those
of the Poland. | could not be induced
to cross with the Duroc again, as the
size is not there. ! am not mapping out
a line of breeding for any one to fol-
low, but only giving my experience,
with no theory. Some of the best cat
tie for feeding purposes are crosses be-
tween the Hereford and the Shorthorn,
so say many feeders, but there are ex-
ceptions in all cases.
| would like to see pure bred stock Of
all kinds kept on the farm, because
there is money in the business if con-
Quoted in an up to date manner. How
ever we cannot all be breeders of pure
bred stock for the purpose Of supplying
the demand in that line, but we can
breed up and improve all kinds of live
stock. In swine breeding never cross
but once. One of the greatest draw
backs in the cross breeding Of swine is
being obliged to get new sows and get
rid of the old ones. My experience
teaches me to keep the old boar and
the old SOW as long as possible, as the
offspring will be stronger, the number
greater and the care Of the mother su-
perior to that of the gilt. have refer
red to the different kinds of stock that
have come under my observation for
the purpose of showing that pure bred
stock of one strain are not always the
largest and best for feeding purposes.