Prize Essay.

Waikato Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2087, 21 November 1885, Page 2 (Supplement)

Prize Essay.

By " AMATEun, In Mural Mw Yorker."

bwini>— the bbst bwfds and now blst to case ron t'iem. Swis'E husbandry may ba divided into two branches ; the first relates to the breeder, who has to do chiefly with the difrrerit breeds of pigs ; and tho second concerns, the feeder, who esteemi pounds of pork more than pure blood pedigree or peculiar markings. We have four breeds of hoga which originated in thia conntry—the Poland-China, the Chester White, the Cheshire or Jefferson County, and the Dnroc- Jersey. The foundation of the Poland-Chin* was nndoubtedly the common hogs of Butler and Warren Counties, 0. ; but probably no part of their present excellence was derived from this source. The Poland-China as now bred, in a mixture of the China, Irish Grazier, Berkshire and perhaps one or two other strains of minor importance. The breed, through a long conrse of judicious breeding, haa developed oertain fixed characteristics, and thus become entitled to be designated as a breed, and the adoption of the name Poland-China by the Swine Breederb' Contention of 1872, fixed the name by whioh it has since been known. Poland Chinas may be described thus: Good length ; short legs ; broad, straight baoks ; drep sides, flanking well down on the leg-; very broad, full, square hams and shoulders ; droopiDK ears ; short heads ; wide between the eyes ; blaok and white spotted. They are bardy, vigorous, and prohfio, and attain a larger bikg than any other breed in this country. Their si/o, hardiness, and docility make them invaluable to Western farmers for converting cheap corn into a more marketable commodity. The great Western corn-grow-ing States are equally pork producing. Cheap corn ond profitable pork go together. The Western farmer requires a hog which is a good grazier, capable of making a thrifty growth on clover, with, perhaps, a modicum of corn per day, until it is desirable to finiih him off for matkft. The Chester White originated in Cheater County, Pa., and is to white hogs what the Poland-China is to black or spotted ; hogs of thii breed attain as large a size asthePolandCbinas, and are of the sumo pbyaieal type. The farmer who has a good Chester White, has a hog that is as good as any that can be produced in any country. Probably as much care has not been used in fixing the charac teristicß of the Chester County as those of the Poland-China; at least, they do not breed as true to the typical hoj?. The Cheshire, as bred in Jefferson County, N.Y., is sometimes called Jffferson County, and by various' other names, but it is essentially a Large Yorkshire. Hogs of this breed we vihite, hare email, fine ears, abort snouts, and very well developed checks, which add much to the boauty of the heid ; long, deep, square bodies, and good shoulders and haras. They are often fine boned, and in them there is a smaller proportion of offal than in any other black hog. The Chchiro ii not as largo as cither of the other breeds, but the difference is not so great as it seems, as the compactness of form gives greater wefght for apparent size. Cheshire exhibitors have been very successful in the show ring, and this, combined with real merit, has made it a very popular breed. The Duroo-Jersey baa been energetically pushed for pnblio favor, and has already many devoted adherents. I cannot, however, tee that it fills any place that is not equally ns well filled by the other breeds. The novel color of tho hog is to me very objectionable. Ail these are large swine, and are more desirable for the grain-growing West than the •mailer breeds. If it 13 important that the farmer in the West, with hla hundreds of Bwino, should have a large breed, it is equally important that the farmer who keeps but a few hogs, and is near a good market, Bhould have hogs that are good feedors and rapid prowerq, which arrhe at maturity early, are fit for market at weights ranging from 200 pounds up to 3*o poun<3«, have a small proportion of offal, and furnish an excellent quality of meat, at from eight to 10 months old. Thia is the condition of most of the farmers of the Eastern and Middle States, and there smaller hogs are most popular. Among the English breeds meeting these requirements most fully, are tho Small Yorkshire, Berkshire, Suffolk and Essex, which are all rmall-boned and easily kept. A very small proportion of the 43,270,080 hogs in the United States in January, 1883, were pure-bred. By far the greater number were cross-breds, grades and nondescripts of every sort. It is in connection with these pigs of inferior bleeding that pure-bred males become important. Good farmers who feed pigs like to handle good animals. It is folly for farmers at the present time to think of keeping pure-brrd pig* merely for tho puipoee of making butchers' meat. The farmer who procures pure stock speedily becomes a breeder, and his pigs are too valuable to be fed and slaughtered. It is a question whether we will ever arrive at the time when purebred pigs of any breed, will be kept to any gieat extent for feeding purposes. The breeds are «o numerous, tbc majority of farmers are ■0 careless as breeders, the total number of hogs kept ia so large, and our agriculture ii 10 diversified, that Buch a state of things is not likely to occur. The general pig-feeder dimply desires to produce, in the shortest possible time and in the cheapest possible manner, the greatest pos- | eible quantity of butcher's meat. It is in the speedy conversion of olover, lour milk and corn into pork, (that he rinds the profit of keeping hogs. The manner in which it if desired to keep and fatten bogs should determine the particular breed from which to select for a cross. If a farmer desires to have pjgs in May or June, and keep them over the ensuing winter, feed them on clover th« next Hummer, and fatten them in the Fall, a good Poland-China would prove highly satisfactory. On the other hand, if h« desires pigs in March and to have them mature, bo as to be tit for the butchers the ensuing November or J)eccmber, a finely bred Essex, Suffolk, or Berkshire would be preferable. These small Enplieh breeds ure of groat antiquity and remarkably prepotent, and are thus well oalculatfd to impress their offspring with their form, fineness of bone, early maturity, and general excellence; while the sows, being 1 larger and coarser, an increase of eizo may be reasonably expected. Buch a cross haa always been very satisfactory to me, the pigs invariably proving good feeders, making ! flesh rapidly, and generally turning out profitable. A black color is not an objection, as beauty in a pig 10 much more a matter of form than of color, and for pigs bred to bo fed and killed, it matters little of what color they are ; the important question is, are they good feederi, will they mature quiokly, fatten easily, and with a small proportion of oiial ; if so, tho cross ia a good one. Both parents should be perfectly healthy, and as good specimens as can be procured. A mistake ii committed in breeding from hogs too young ; tho offspring is apt to be lacking in size and vigor. If the services of a nondescript male can be had for nothing, and the services of a pure-bred for five dollars, the pure-bred will prove much the most profitable in the feeding qualities of the cross. It is a good practice to have the breeding row removed from close proximity to other «wino by a close partition,!! she is kept in the same building. This is essential to insure quietness in the sow and safety to the young pigs. She should be kept in the pen where she ii to farrow, so that she may beoome perfectly at home in her quarters. The pon should be quite warm and secured from Budden changes of temperaluro.tbis precaution is absolutely requisite to success when young pigs are desired in March. Except for a few days before farrowing, allow breeding sows all the out-door fxprciue they desire. This insure* better health and vigor in the sow and offspring. I keep my brood bows comparatively fat : in better condition than my neighbors, who are bre«deri, QQDjidiE laic, I have learned that

a breeding bow will digest and a a Himikte much mnro food than a strong pig, and that eho can bo quite hi without injury. Tiie fat of tho mother will f-p-cdily find Us way in richer millt to the p 7-. I never Rive Ptimalating food to tho DOW except from the time the p g« nre two or thre^ weckri eld n> til ft f t r u..y ora wmied. A v.^.y goO'i diet for fi breeding eov, in addition to hoot? slopa, cot.siats oi a emnll quantity of ground barley and oate, varied occanioimlly by a fen- car? of corn or a sraall m"PJ of i> c p. 3 . A mosa of raw potatona two or three timcH per week, will bo found very beneficial. S!ie should nlso hnvc an abnndanoo of pure W3tor. At all timci after the piRS aro two weckg old, Rive thn bow all the food Bhe will eat op clean. To encourage young pigs to eat, they Bhould be fed a little new rjullc in a eraall trough easily acceesiblo. Tho pi*K Phould be kept fITOWinR from his birth ;ft p ; t; th&t is not growing in size or flefh ia l.epc at .1 loss. A pig of the lixr^o breeds, i! fed &11 it c-in digett and afsimilnlp from its birth, will dcrelopo bone, jnuscle and size during a longer period than will a pig of tho small breeds treated in tho same manner ; that is large hogs are longer in arriving at maturity than small. A pig while growing cannot be fattened to advantage. The food fed will increase its growth rather than be diverted to the forrnctiou of fat. Bit, let it always be remembered, that n pig, large or email, 13 nothing but a maobine for the conversion cf grain, clover, swill, etc, into pork. Clover grazed in the field, may be converted into pork at a profit. Everything should be fed to the bog«, whioh will return a reasonable profit. When intelligently treated, they fulfil the object of their existence ; when not so treated, they become cye-soies to all good farmers.