Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1920-04-06
Making Cheap Pork

There are several packing plants
in the southeastern states. They
are operating at one-fourth of their
rated capacity. The outturn OF
these plants is therefore only suf-
ficient to supply about one-fourth of
their commercial demand. In other
words, three-fourths of the packing
house products distributed by our
principal packing concerns are pro
duced in some other section of tbs
country. This is an astonishing
revelation, but the facts presented
are based on the statements made
by the managers of the various pack
ing plants doing business in the ter
ritory mentioned. We have made
remarkable progress in the develop
ment of our hog industry in Georgia
in the last five years, yet we are
fare short of the goal which we
must eventually attain.
There are several most important
issues involved in the present situa-
ton. The first of these lies in the
fact that our commercial packing
plants can not work at a profit I'M
der the conditions outlined above.
In other words, they just have more
raw lSIldl. IlSIc 1S III oloc0lOL
which could overtake us equal TO
the closing out or withdrawal OF
these plants from active operation.
Such thing would hurt us even
more than the boil weevil has done
because our principal bulwark Of
defense against his attack has been
through the development of our
swine industry. Moreover, if such
fn11
markets would be gone and the hog
industry would dwindle away into
Insignificant proportions.
We are also vitality concerned
with the fact that we are still i'm
porting three ourths of our pack
ing house products. This means
that a great deal of the money we
are obtaining from other avenues of
production is going out of the state
for materials which should be pro-
duced out of our undeveloped loca'
resources. No country has ever be.
come rich or permanently prosper
Gus which did not raise in the larg-
est possible measure its raw ma
terials or else purchase them much
below their relative market value,
and then through the process Of
manufacture refine them to the point
where their value might be trebled
or quadrupled. It behooves us there
fore to study and to determine by
what means we can grow pork In
sufficient quantities to meet our
local needs and on an economical
basis as we'll. Enough has been done
to demonstrate that we can develop
hogs suitable for the packing trade
very cheaply because we can raise
them almost. exclusively on grazing
crops. If one were called on to
designate the section of the country
where swine raising could be en-
gagged in at least financial outlay
and with the prospect of largest re-
turns in the shortest possible time,
he would undoubtedly draw O. circle
inclosing the states of the south
east, and particularly Georgia.
There is no gainsaying the facts
set forth above. The questions in
voIved at present, therefore, are
first, the improvement of the grade
Of our hogs through the more gen
eral use of pure-bred sires and the
selection and retention in the herbs
of a better grade Of females. Sec
ond, we must organize production
on the cheapest possible basis which
calls for the establishment and
maintenance Of a series of grazing
crops which will provide cheap and
desirable food throughout the year.
To that end the best means of es-
tablishing a unit grazing area will
now be outlined. The plan contem-
plates the use Of Is acres Of land
and in an average season will pro-
vide the food needed for the main
tenance of eight brood sows and
their filters.
The area in question should be
divided up as follows: five acres
should be devoted to permanent
pasture, : varieties Of crops being
used which are best adapted to the
particular locality concerned. An
area of permanent pasture is abso-
lute1y necessary, as it provides
type and character Of food essen
tial for the hogs to have in any
quantity they may desire. There
should be a laneway along one side
of this permanent pasture which
should preferably be long and mar
row in it's outline. The balance of
the land should be divided into four
grazing areas Of equal dimensions,
each containing about two and half
acres. A section of land forty rods
wide and twenty-seven rods long
will contain approximately two and
a half acres. All of the areas in
question should be very strongly
fenced and cross-fenced with woven
wire of a heavy grade and not less
than thirty-two inches high. Two
barbed wires should be placed above
the woven wire and sometimes one
can be put at the bottom to advan-
tage. The posts should be set at
intervals of one rod apart, and the
gates and laneways should be twelve
feet wide to admit of easy access
to all parts of the fenced area. Va
rious types of posts may be used,
but steel, concrete, cedar or locust
will be found the most lasting
and therefore the most desirable to
use.
On the smaller areas some or
all of the following crops should
be planted so as to provide a sue