The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1914-12-15
THE HAsK IN LETTER
Our Meat Supply--III Pork.
By Frederick j. Haskin.

80 7saf
To country with a rapidly increas-
ing population, and, q shortage. In its
meat supply, which is the situation
OF the United States today, the hog
is peculiarly important animal, be-
cause, with the exception of the var
fous kinds OF poultry, he is the only
meat producing animal that thriyes
better on the tRrm than on the range
Great plans are going forward to in
crease The number OF sheep and cattle
kept on American farms, and nc
doubt the meat supply will be in
creased in that way, but the fact re-
mains that both of these are pri-
marily range animals, are subject to
diseases when kept on farms that are
unknown upon the range, and that
only a very few can be kept upon a
small area
Not SO the hog. Turn him loose on
the range without food or protection
from the weather, and he becomes a
wiry, razor back. mostly snout and
ears, and mere shadow OF. his for
mer self as to, ham and bacon. On
grow to great size and admirably
fulfill his destiny us pork in a pen no
more than large enough for him to
turn around in. The more farms there
ARE, the more hogs 1t is possible to
raise. Pork, like empire, has moved
westward, following agriculture. AS
the herds OF cattle have been driven
out by the incoming .homesteaders, the
humble hog has arrived to root and
stay. There were once more hogs in
the south than in any other part of
te LIMITED States; now the middle
western states of the corn belt have
most OF them; while the Poetic north
west is looked upon as the coming
hog country by many authorities.
Furthermore, the hog, is the most
prolific of farm animals. He ma
lures and fattens rapidly. Swine
will recuperate more quickly from ex-
| cessive loss by disease and from ex-
cessive slaughter than any other meat
animal. 1t is significant fact that,
despite the ravages OF hog cholera
in 1918, the great number of hogs,
many Of them not yet mature, that
were slaughtered to take advantage
OF the high meat prices. and the long
drought which made the value Of corn
almost prohibitiye for stock feeding,
the number of hogsi n the country
declined only 81 per cent during that
year. Experience has shown that the
swine will recover their numbers in
two years II given a fair chance. 1t
will probably require many times
that long to remedy the present
shortages in cattle and sheep.
The number of swine in the.country
on January l., 1914, was 5S,933,00o.
Although as stated, this represents a
decrease of 81 per cent since 1918,
| 1t is a gain Of 1.3 per cent since 1910,
during which period the numbers Of
cattle and sheep We're rapidly de-
creasing.
All of these advantages seem to
point to the hog as the meat animal
of the future in America. There is
Just one serious drawback, and that
! is the hog cholera. Wherever there
are hogs in this country, there is also
| hop cholera, and the outbreak Of the
disease means the probable loss OF
the entire herd unless the farmer
diagnoses the disease correctly in its
early stages, isolates the affected
hogs, and promptly obtains and uses
the serum which is. the only known
cure Of the disease.
The annual loss from hog cholera
in this country is impressive. In the
year 1897, when the disease was at its
worst, 1870 hogs out of every thous-
and in the United States, died Of hog
cholera, and were a total loss. In the
early part Of this century, there was
short respite from the plague, but in
1 1913, despite the great efforts tina,
have been made to control the dis
ease, the death toll again rose to 1917
per thousand. The value Of the hogs
4 that died of hog cholera in 1918 is es-
ttimated at $4,000, 900. If these hogs
had been saved, there would have
been 36 more pounds of meat in the
country for every family OF four or
five members. In addition to this
actual loss of pork and money, :aere
( is, the indirect loss due to the fact
! that farmers will not even attempt to
raise hogs where the disease is
I known to be prevalent.
In view OF this state OF aHalfs, the
question of the pork supply is large
ly question Of the hog cholera epi-
\ demic. II the hog cholera can be
eradicated or controlled, the United
States is assured of an adequate sup
ply of pork, and one that will tend to
Increase, rather than, decrease, with
the growth of the population. If the
hog cholera can be eradicated or con-
Itrolled, the United States Is assured