Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-06-10
BY JAMES B. MORROW.

--Ow, the word hog should not
tNu sound any worse than the word
MI fog, bog or log. But 1t does.
q " even il prime sliced bacon is
80 cents a pound in Washington, and in
other cities, possibly.
Ever since Moses, in Leviticus. his
third great book. peremptorily de-
clared: HE (the swine) is unclean to
you" writer's. notably poets and max
ers of dictionaries, down to the present
hour, have striven maliciously to de-
popularize the hog. They have made
no Roadway. however. except esthet-
ically. Practically. the hog was never
80 highly esteemed as he is at this
moment. His hams have become lux
uries and his sausages are no longer
the low comedians among the meat
items Of ones diet.
When a female of the swine species,
healthy and motherly. can rear twelve
SONS and daughters annually. six In the
spring and as many more in the au-
tuTrn. which, plus more or less corn.
some alfalfa, clover and SO forth, can
be sold at Is cents pound on the hoof,
or. say. $40 for the bunch. pigs are
pigs" as Charles Lamb wrote to Sam
1uei Taylor Coleridge, in the early
spring of 1922.
The sentiment being suggestive and
calling forth pleasant table memories,
Lamb sat himself down and wrote his
celebrated essay on roast pork. So for
once. at least. the hog received re-
spectful treatment at the hands of lit
erature. Usually. however, and, 1t
might be said. habitualIy, the hog is
outlawed from parlor conversation and
renned books. Pork, as explained by
eminent man of letters the world has
ever known. is heating and unhealth-
fuI food in hot climates, unless prop
erly cured with salt and smoke. and
along with his efforts to direct them
spiritually. mathematical the hog for
their bodily good-and gave to all sub
keauent authors a prejudice he did not
Feel himself. except sanitarfly.
Reriied for ages. publicly, the hog
mas gone his way. undisturbed by
rhymsters and other detractors. being
always the friend and sustainer. and
often the comrade. of the common peo-
pie. Year after year. in the United
States. at any rate, he ha. been turn
Ing corn into gold. paying farm mort
cages, buying plows and reapers,
building houses and barns and sending
boys and girls to colleges. Now he is
w
means of the armies of the allies,
throughout the whole of Europe. His
mans. shoulders and bacon. not to mem
tfon his other parts, are nourishinR the
hosts OF freedom He is behind every
cannon and mayonet and is heard In
every bugle call
In a word. though softened by domes-
ucation. he is maintaining the indie
pendence, courage and fighting quality
OF the wild boar. his ferocious ancestor.
emerged
IN company with man. His beginnings
are sealed among the mysteries Living
In the forests, unafraid and competent.
he has become. by the processes of
refinement. an honorable and useful
Historically and economically inter-
preted. hog Is exactly as meIodious as
any other three-lettered word ending
with g. Swine. perhaps. may ring
more pleasantly in some ears. but II ia
not commonly employed on the farm.
A pig. technically. is a young hog And
now. the reader having come so far.
he is prepared understandingly. it is
hoped. and with appreciation. it is wish
ed. to learn what the hog is doing for
himself tmeaning the reader, Of
-courseD as one Of the human units
composing the nation.
A Few ngures are necessary. Compre-
-hensfon would be COMPOUNDED without
item. On January !. 1917, there were
67.463.o00 hogs in this country. Their
farm value was 1871 .242,000. II the
mighty drove could have been divided
there would have been 67.100 of a hog
Tor each man. woman and child inhabit-
ing the United States.
-
Corn and hogs travel together in
market quotations and geographically
There are never cheap corn and dear
pork, nor cheap pork and dear corn
The center Of the swine industry. and
1t II the center of the corn Industry
begins with Ohio on the east and ex-
tends to the western line of Kansas
This region contains IS per cent of
the national total.
The southern states. from the Allan
TIC ocean to the west line Of Texas,
contAfn % per cent OF the national to-
tai The remaining per cent" says
George K Holmes, the accomplished
: statfstte1An OF the Department Of Agrt.