The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1901-10-22

ideally all Of our improved Dreec- of
live stock 70 foreign countries it IA a
matter for satisfaction that At least
n breed Of swine has originated in
America We refer OF courge TO the
Poland-China breed Of hogs. Certain
ly, too, this is q breed well worthy Of
the fame II has attained not only here
but abroad, for expectation Of live
animals for breeding purposes has
been carried on to some extent Of late
years, and it may be said that If for
eign consumers Of American pork and
pork products knew that the Poland
China furnished most Of this product
they would more thoroughly appre-
ciate the breed as an American in
stltutiOn." It is pTe-eminently a lard
hog, but at the same time the staple
producer of farm bacon and hams and
OF a great proportion Of all pork prod
ucts IN the market Yet while it is an
American breed pure and simple it is
known by the complex, p~erplexing
name Poland China, What had
Poland TO do with its formationZ Not
a thing that we have been able to dis
cover and China had almost IS little
When the breed found its starting
place back in the rich Miami valley Of
Ohio it Is said that in 1916 John Wal
lace introduced TO that county three
breeding hogs called Big Chinas-'
They were bought in Philadelphia and
were said TO be from China OF bred
from Chinese stock This Is the only
trace of China we can find in the
lz-r- Fs-r-- " - --~z a-d F1n~z
regarding any Polish blood having
been used are entirely absent so that
it may be taken for granted that No
such blood was utilized II is evident
then that our native breed Of swine
is poorly named for while il originated
in America neither the POlaks nor he
Chinese contributed anything 70 its
success or formation yet receive the
credit in It's designation. The breed
should have been called the Miami
County hog" or possibly the Var
ren County hog" as it was once called,
or should have been given some other
name more correct and American than
Poland-China- It is now too late 70
change the name and PC viii stick
to the breed in all probability through
out the future. Though the name viii
remain the same and has since we can
remember il, the breed itself has
changed and will continue TO change
in some slight respects as the result
of continued breeding towards a de-
sired standard The first specimens Of
the breed we can call to mind were
much eoarser than those OF the pres
ent day and had more white spots up
on them, in fact some Of them showed
about as much white as black as may
easily be seen BY referring 10 some OF
the old cuts OF Poland-China swine
such for instance as those published
BY A c. Moore Of Canton. Ill, and
other early and extensive breeders II
would seem TO US too that the hogs
have grown shorter and blocker. a
fact that cannot altogether be eOnsid-
cred an improvement except for lard
production; it certainly has not made
the breed more prolific in breeding
indeed it must we think be confessed
that the breed is less prolific now than
twenty years OF more ago It has
much improved in head and ear being
heater and finer and this may also be
said OF the bones which are less in
balk and possibly stronger in texture
than when AL corn was the prevail
ing method OF feeding. In capacity
for lard production this breed has
taken the lead OF all competitors and
as an all round farm hog. for feeding
and killing it has very evidently given
universal satisfaction so that along
with our breed OF trotting horses. also
an American breed, we have al least
two examples of successful breeding
which viii successfully compare with
anything the foreign countries have
been able to contribute. American
corn made the Poland-China- Ameri-
can corn is fast becoming eOsmOpOli-
tan in its utilization as q food for
man and beast and may yet change
the type OF the foreign breeds OF
swine should it come 10 be fed in
large quantities Too much corn has
proved dangerous to III swine but the
increased foreign demand by inereas-
ing the value of corn viii reduce the
amount used for swine feeding in this
country and inevitably lead 10 i'm
provement OF our swine the first i'm
provement being increased p~rOlidcaey
Of the POland-China-