Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1920-03-17

JAcnonv1lle, Fla. March ID
During the last few years. hogs
not rszorbacks. but high-bred.
pork-msking hogs-have increased
in the state Of Florida at . rate
which is probably unprecedented Ia
porcine history. AT the same time.
and as . direct result Of this hog
multiplication, there has been
great increase In the number Of
that pillar Of democracy, the man
who works for himself, otherwise
known ~ the independent operator.
For the facts concerning this
great economic development, as
well as the philosophical differences
which accompany them, credit is
due to w. NJ. Traef. who is secre-
tary of the Florida State Swine
Growers association. and also of
the Southern Swine Growers. asso-
citation. and is easily the leading
pork-propagandist Of the statA
The sensational facts about Flor
ida hog culture are Is follows:
Five years ago there were prac-
tically no hogs in this state except
for that characteristic and ubiquit-
Gus feature of southern scenery. the
razorback. The razorback, of
course, is an animal not to be de-
spised. For . combination of sa-
gacity, speed. wind. fighting quail
ties, omnivorous appetite, self-re-
lance and immunity to disease. he
is hard If not impossible to beat.
The objection to him as hog is
that he produces little or NO pork.
He shuns fat like q movie star. He
assays about 80 per cent bristle,
hoof, tusk and squeAl. He excites
admiration but does not satisfy the
appetite.
The Floridians decided that this
old-time southerner would have to
import blooded stock. The result
is that. there are now nearly two
million real hogs in the state of
Florida, and the number is stead
lily growing. The state growers as
ISOLATION was organized two years
ago, and it is the leader in forming
an all-southern association. A
Florida SOW, with two generations
of Florida hogs behind her. won
the grand championship at the In
ternational Livestock Exhibition in
Chicago. Recently as much as
$500 has been paid for boar to
be used for breeding purposes in
Florida A livestock show is now
being planned here which is ex-
pected to attract $5,000.000 worth
of exhibits. There is big packing
plant at Jacksonville, and two
smaller ones at Chipley and at
Tampa And all this has been az
complished in five years.
Mr.. Traer firmly believes that the
hog is to be the mainstay Of Flor
ida's future prosperity. As quick
producer of wealth, he believes
that the hog has no equal. Pork
production. he says, is the poor
mans best bet, and one which he
too often overlooks. More and more
these days it takes capital to get
started in anything. The days when
you could start on shoe-string
seem well night gone. The result
| is that a lot of US are holding jobs
who would like to be in business
! for ourselves.
At this point we must rise from
the solid ground of fact and take
a hazardous little fight in the thin
air of theory. Fifty years ago
when any man could get a hundred
and sixty acres Of good land by 60
ing west and building shack on
| it, we had little or no unrest in
this country, and other nations ad-
mitted that we had a lot of democ-
racy. Now that most of US have to
hunt jobs in cities. We have a lot
of unrest and the people across the
water regard US as the most reac-
tionary of nations. In a word, we
venture the mild generalization
that democracy is at bottom a mat
ter Of economics, rather than OF
politics, and so is unrest If you
are working for yourself you are
inclined to be satisfied with things