Mexico weekly ledger., 1902-03-20
RAISING HOGS AS SCIENCE.
Interesting Experiment Which Has
Cost $4,000

OF Kansas CITY, Mo-, an experiment is
being made which is being watched
with interest by stock raiscrs all over
the United States. The owners ~
the farm have invested more than
$50 600 in pedigreed and registered
hogs for The purpose of ascertainlng
whether breeding fine )gs exclusively
can be made profitable The owners
OF the farm have no other live stock
todemand their attention, except 100
COWS, and the dairy is an auxiliary
part Of the hog farm, for every quart
OF milk from the cows is used to feed
pigs
IL has been maintained by agri-
culturalists that hog raising alone is
not profitable unless some Of the
animals are sold for food, but the
owners Of this hog farm south Of Kan
sas City are confident that their in
vestment Of more than $4,000 in reg
istered animals win yield large profit
beforea a year has passed.
The farm is owned by Winn & Mas
tin and contains 1880 acres. There
are twenty barns on the place, and
ten Of them are used to shelter hogs.
There are 600 registered animals on
the place, and some OF the boars cost
as much money as pedigreed bulls or
horses. One boar, called Corrector 10
the herd books, cost $500: another
called Proud Perfection cost 80, 900
ALL POLAND CHINA.
Every one of the 600 hogs on the
farm is Poland China. There are
two great breeds Of swine.-the Poland
China, a pure American hog, and the
Berkshire, an English hog. The Amer
ican breed originated when Adam Nc
Gee, an Ohio stock raiser, had some Of
bis animals, large, rough, spotted and
poor feeders, crossed with Berkshires.
In the early 7O's some Ohloans began
to save for breeding purposes the
blacklist OF the MCGEE hogs, but the
modern type Of the Poland China was
not known until boar called "Tom
Corwin, /" owned by ]. II Bebout, Of
Rushville, Ind, was crossed with the
MCGEE hogs. From that cross the
Poland China breed became the
favorlte American bog and the Berk-
shires were rapidly supplanted. The
Poland Chinas are larger than the
English animals and for that reason
the rearing Of them is more profitable
to the farmer who sells his product for
meat.
Frank Winn, the senior member of
the firm that is making the interest
Ing experiment in scientific hog rails
Ing, resigned his position as private
secretary to Walton Fl. Holmes, pres
ident OF the Metropolitan Street Rail-
way Company, to devote all his time
to the management of the farm. Mr..
Winn has been In the hog business for
many years.
LARGEST HERD IN THE WORLD.
1--WE are confident that our enter
Prise win prove profitable, +" said Mr..
Vim. "Our herd is the largest in
he world. We have spent $1,000 for
'ur barns, apd there are fifty miles Of
fences, built at cost Of
more than $4,000. Not a single
Inimal will be sold for meat. The
arm dairy has 100 cows, and all the
milk is fed to our pigs. In some Of
he hog houses stoves have been placed
o protect the young pigs. The stoves
Ise natual gas for fuel, and the pens
re kept at summer temperature,
ven in bitter cold weather.
"When do you expect to receive any
eturns from your investments" was !
sked.
"Although more than $4,000 has {
'een spent forI animals and for i'm
the returns are already
oming ln,n was the reply. I'VE are
hipping hogs all over the United !
tates. l have received orders for
ogs from England and Old Mexico, J
there the Poland China hog has untll
ecently been unknown. When we
aid $500 for boar many stock men
lughed at US. Since then many pigs .
ut few weeks old have been sold for .
30 each.' {
The shipping department of the q
Experimental hog farm is interesting
visitors. Hundreds Of crates, each
lst large enough to contain one hog,
re piled ready for use. The crates =
re built Of heavy oak planks and are
constructed, SC they can be !
mt by express. The expenditures for
ne hog farm, including the cost Of
inning the dairy and the salaries OF !
bout twenty men, are about 1000 =
er month. Only the best feed is
lven to the hogs. Gas engines,
perated by natural gas, are used to :
lAhN SoAh atN Suop lOuutEs IA
IL win be more than year before
he owners of the farm will be able to n
etermine whether their experiment =
asuccess. Everything is conducted .
I what is supposed to- be a scientific =
AN. So far 1t has been clearly dem 4
lstrated that scientific hog raising :,
'sts money" One case Of hog cholera
as been known to wipe out thousands .,
animals exposed TO the disease. The y
Initary conditions Of the Winn & .,
astin farm are such that the liability a,
an epidemic is reduced to a mini 4
um. All animals brought TO the :
rm are placed in the isolated quar- a,
ltine pens for a period Of three n
eeks before they are allowed in the
ms where the stock animals are n
mined. o
Twenty thousand men are idle in cl
oston- on account of the freight
lndlerS' strike. n
)EcT EmN TILE c.