Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-06-24
By
Frederic
]. HaSRin

The Danes have cooperative cream
cries and cooperative slaughter houses,
which keep all the profits of the bust
ness in the hands of the farmers.
The process of slaughtering hogs In
big packing house is very interest
ing. A chain is first Topped around one
of the hind legs of the hog and the
other end attached to a hook on. big
revolving drum. The sQuealing porker
is carried up into the air and the end
of the chain attached to the drum Is
transferred to a long track, which
transports the hog past the sticker,
who may plunge his knife into the
threats of many thousand hogs in a
single day. From 5 point the bleed
ing porker is carried to the scraping
machines, and the processes which
transform it from a live hog into
dressed pork. Dozens of men take part
in the slaughter of each hog, each man
having his own special work 70 do,
which may be nothing more than
welding a single stroke with knife.
The hog has had a peculiar hist Dry.
Despised by the Brahmns and the an
cient Egyptians, pronounced unclean, by
the Mohammedans and the Jews. in Eu-
rope hunting the wild hog for generations
was regarded as the most thrilling sport
In which kings and princes could engage.
Yet under the development which was
wrought by the breeders of the past, he
has come down to the American farmer
as one of his greatest assets. a mort
gage litter and a debt payer. Geological
ly speaking. the hog is a cousin Of the
elephant, the long nose of the wild boar
corresponding to the trunk of that ami
NAL.
The first hogs brought to America came
from Spain, arriving in Cuba on the ves-
sells which brought Columbus on his sec
ond visit to the new world. in 1893 1t
is thought that the next Importation were
those which reached Florida in 1888.
Canada received it's first swine from Eng
and in 1888. The early domestic hog in
Europe was the result of the crossing OF
the wild hog of that continent with do
mesticated animals from China. 1t was
found that their progeny took ALI of the
hardness of the wild boar and all OF the
early maturing qualities of the dornesti-
Gated animals of Asia.
The hog affords the best instance among
all domesticated species, unless II be the
dog, of the working of the law of natural
selection and environment. 1t is a far
cry from the wild hogs of Europe to the
modern Poland China. but 1t has all been
brought about by a judicious application
of the laws of selection and environment.
In few kinds of stock are there more diff
ferent breeds. England has produced a
great many varieties. but probably the
best breeds are those which have been
established in the United States.
No other domestic animal is as prolific
au hn A<0 r. hou hAa o1n,,l 1N1 Nk1N
II years of age one brood sow may be
the ancestor of more than 100000 pigs.
1t is this quality that makes the hog
one of the most profitable of all the ami
mails the farm. 1t Is said, moreover,
that hogs yield greater returns for the
food they eat than any other member
OF the domestic species outside of rhe
feathery kingdom.
The pig has long been regarded as the
least intelligent among the domestic ami
mails. Yet it is asserted by men who
have made careful study OF their men
tai activities that this seeming ,denseness
is the result of environment and not
natural trait. Trainers assert that pigs
have qualities which more nearly approx
innate some of the best traits in human
nature than those of any other animal.
For instance, II Is asserted that they
show keener anguish over the suffering
OF their own kind than any other domes-
tic creatures. They have the instinct of
fighting together. and will form them
selves into circle for defense. a forma-
ton better than which man himself has
nothing to offer. One may see this in
stinct of the wild hog manifested when
dog goes into the hog lot and disturbs
the peace of it's denizens. ..-'.