Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1910-02-25

FIG. XXIV.-THE FAT HOG I4PEs
qualities of both breeds. but when
these crossbred animals are bred among
themselves the good points rapidly dis
appear, and in a few years only the
bad ones are left.
Fat Hog Type.
The fat hog should be low set, wide
sprung to give width to the back and
loin and should extend well down the
sides. The head should be short and
wide, with short, thick neck. The
shoulders should be we'll laid in at
the top. and there should be no de-
preston back of them. A lack OF
heart girth is fault often found In
otherwise good hogs. The sides should
be deep and free from wrinkles. Both
fore and hind flank should be well
filed. The hind quarters should be
fairly long from the hips back and the
hams we'll filed down to the hooks.
Viewed from the side, the back should
be slightly arched. Swaybacks are
very bad, especially in brood sows.
The underline should be level. Viewed
from behind, the hind quarters should
be wide and full and the width of
body even from one end to. the other.
Some hogs have good width in front,
but narrow off badly behind. The
legs should be strong, and the hog
should stand up well on his toes. Any
weakness of the pasterns should cause
hog to be disseminated against for
breeding purposes. Constitution. as
shown by deep, wide chest and gen.
eral vigor. is very important. Quality
4 of hair, skin. limbs and head should
also be looked for If those who are il
the business of raising hogs for the
market would take note of these cas-.
means Of identifying the profitable ami
NAL much disappointment would b
avoided 1t matters not what thu
breed, it is necessary to apply this dis
eliminating process in each individual
case
In some cases breeders have gone t.
extremes in producing show animals
and have bred hogs that are compact
chubby and good to look at, but al
most worthless for breeding purposes
The breeding SOW to be protitabl
, must be of good size. rather loosel
} built and with roomy middle piece
: The boar should be vigorous and &C
, tive. A boar Of this kind that is
( little rangy is to be preferred to on
3 of the chubby type that is sluggis
/. and slow on his feet. While compac
!. ness and fine points are desirable, til
}. farmer cannot afford to obtain thel
at the expense of profitable sized II
tiers.
t In the bacon type length and dept
J. are sought for especially, without S
v much regard to width. Larger leg
Q and Il longer aud sharper face are a
e lowable. and the hams are deep rattle
n than full and wide. One of the grea
O est essentials of bacon hog is qua
II ity. The bone must be clean and n
e coarse. the shoulders exceedingly col
IL pact and the hide smooth and pliable
Handling Breeding Stock.
In selecting breeding stock. besid
paying attention to the character
h the individuals. their ancestors shou
"a also be considered. 1t Is very impc
tant that they come from proll
st strains. since much of the profit or 10
as in the hog business depends on t
W size of the filters. In case you 8
q. breeding hogs for sale as breeders 1t
necessary to select animals of strai
that are in demand.
1t is general practice to bre
81 sows in the fall. when they are abe
q eight months old. Then as soon MS
-. pigs are weaned the sows are fatten
w and sold. The argument in favor
in this plan is that it saves the expen
S, of keeping the sows throughout
S. summer. If good pasture is ava
able. however, this expense will n
amount to much. The use Of matu
sows will bring in Il profit that "
p De much more than pay the cost of kee
on ing them throughout the summer.
nv number of experiments that ha
I'D been conducted along this line it b
ny been found that sows two years old
over at narrowing time produce neal
80 per cent more pigs than yearli
sows. The pigs from the two-year-'
sows were considerably larger at bill
and made % per cent faster ga