The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-05-08

St Louis Post Dispatch.
 The leopard cannot change his spots,
 Nor yet the Ethiop his skin.
 And yet we may induce the hog
 A new existence to begin.
 And tread through life cleaner path, By giving him a shower bath.
 The hog Is unclean, not by nature, but through association, say the wise men of the Agricultural Department at Washing ton, D. c. He acquires the habiK of wallowing in the mud just as men ac- quire the habit of rolling home at a. m., or of smoking bad cigars and worse cigarettes
 What the American people should do. says the wise men, is to convert the hog from his unnatural ways for any sensible hog can be made to understand that it is rude and unseemly for him to go around with his face unwashed and his spring suit impressed.
 We all remember the "educated hog in the side show. According to tho clo- quent barker who sang his praises, he can read or write. spell or fight, or beat any of, you playing a game of marbles or cards. and he's only a common barn. yard hog. and months old today" If one hog can become so erudite, why cannot the whole hog family be raised to a standard of cleanliness, morality and book learnin? This is what the wise men of the Agricultural Department are asking; and are they not the farmers guides. paid by the government, and should they not know?
 At any rate. they propose to try for the elevation of the porcine family, and hope to achieve such results that fifty years from now the swineherd will be on a par. socially and intellectually, with |, .-f, An,, lNrt @f kE,o principal of a high school One of these wise men is credited with having said.
 T have never yet been thoroughly sat isfed that If the hog received a fair chance it would not be as clean as any other domestic animal. Take. for in- stance. its wel-known proclivity for wal flowing in the mud. Now have never ben convinced that it does it simply be- cause it is mud. nor simply because it en- Joys the dirt It is because the mud is cool and soft; and if there was some thing else equally cool and soft, which possessed the additional qualification of cleanliness the hog would, without doubt ! choose it.
 Will Strive to Educate the Hog. q say that without doubt the hog could be so educated as to.choose the cleaner substance. Since the time that the hog has become domesticated it has been permitted, and even encouraged, to wallow in filth. The primitive hog was naturally as clean as the primitive horse. Today the wild hos, which has never come in contact with mankind. Is clean in it's habits as the rabbit or the squirrel. Ut will of course. take some time to eradicate the inevitable effects of years of environment that have made tilthness an acquired hereditary trait tn the hog S nature. But we are sanguine enough to think that it can be done, and every reasoning person should admit that the beneficial result in supplying the public with pork absolutly free from the germs of disease will more than outwoight the outlay of labor and expense to the gov ernment.
 Piggie Will Have Shower Bath. The process will be gradual Wo should of course get special appropris- tion from Congress that will permit us to build q suitable experiment station, where the preliminary work will be carried on. Our first experiments will be tried on very young animals. and. as l think now, on stockings of the Poland China Varie- ty,
 These sucklings will be taken before they have had time to become contami- mated by asociatsion and put into spe- ciany prepared pen, with nothing but the | cleanest surroundings. In the summer 1 time clean, moist sand will be given them in which to lie. They will be driven down an ircloscd chute on hot days and treated to shower baths After a year or two of treatment of this nature We will take several of the most promising of tho shoats and turn them into an in closure, one-half of which is fitted up ! with the conver;ences to which they have i been accustomed. and the other half a regular pig pen. ,..-.,. If te educated porkers choose the dirt