Democratic Sentinel, Volume 14, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 September 1890 — THE STOCK RANCH. [ARTICLE]

THE STOCK RANCH.

Pure Breeds for Pigs. The best way in pig breeding is to stick to one breed. It takes nearly a lifetime to find out how to get the best results from one breed, and if the time is wasted in crossing the breeds and experimenting with new ones, the chances are that time and labor will be dissipated un-

profitably. It doos not follow that purebred stock require better feeding or more expensive attention than the cross breeds and poor stock: but they do require certain kinds of food at certain times. The farmers who believe in keeping none but the pure-bred stock, the old reliable breeds which they have dealt with for years, soon learn to know what treatment is the best for the animals. They learn by experience how to handle them, and it is only when new breeds are introduced that they are uncertain or puzzled. In swine breeding the first cross between two distinct breeds is generally good, but in the next cross the identity of the blood or breeds is lost, and they degenerate rapidly, losing the characteristics of the original stock. In crossing it should, therefore, be understood that the excellency consists only in the first cross, and whore continual cross is practiced, degeneration must Inevitably follow. In England probably the best swine an* to be found, and this is due to the fact that they have improved upon two or three excellent breeds until they are nearly perfect. They know almost to a certainty what they can expect much better than any one who practices crossbreeding to any extent. The great thing for farmers to do is to breed swine of some particular breed, perfecting it each year, until experiment has taught them how to make the most of the animals. They will in the course of time evolve a breed that will establish a name for some particular characteristics, and this will be reward sufficient. — American Cultivator. Breeding from Mature Animals. One law of breeding not often thought of is that to breed from very young animals tends to impair vigor, not only in themselves but in their progeny as well. Yet in some kinds of animals vigor of constitution must be subordinated, else the wild Texa.n steer would be deemed superior to the Holstein, Jersey or Guernsey, where milk and butter are more important than size, beauty or vigor. It is quite probable that the smaller size of Channel Island cattle comes from breeding very early, thus turning the digestive organs early towards making milk and butter, rather than to building up a large frame or laying much fat on it. The argument is often made that sows should not bo set to breeding early, because their pigs are fewer and less vigorous when the sow is young than when she has attained full growth. Yet the early stimulation of milk glands is likely to make, the early bred sow a better milker than one bred only after she has attained full growth. She is likely to bo a more careful mother. Perhaps in such eases the best rule is to combine both methods. Breed the sow young and fatten all her pigs early. When she attains full growth and her pigs are in<At vigorous, save the pigs for breeders, thus saving in the offspring both the qualities that are of ’ greatest value in pigs for breeding.