POINTS IN BREEDING.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVIII, Issue 35, 9 February 1917, Page 9

POINTS IN BREEDING.

In a business pamphlet issued by a large co-operative bacon-curing eompanv in England, hints to breeders are given a« follow: — "The boar counts for half, and a big i half. For a profitable sow, lay more , stress on good bone, good constitution,! and big litters than on a number in the ! herd book. Beware of the scrub! thoroughbred. Blood without quality is j worse than quality without blood. The j best breed is the one that will rear most pigs and make the most and best bacon on the cheapest food. Save the best sow for breeder*-. Do not breed young, immature sows. Do not kill good breeding stock too early. Keep a record of the perfoi—lance of each sow. "Fatten the sera that lies on her pigs. Try another. When pigs are low in price it is the time to increase the number of breeders. Small pigs grow rapidly in a cold rain—that is, rapidly smaller. Av»id scours by keeping things clean about troughs and 6will tubs. Aim for a daily gain of ljlb a pig. If you do mot work for it you will probably not get it. A wet pen will make a lame pig. The pig is not responsible for a poor result. A pig does not merely eat to live. Study the difference between a growing ration and a fattening ration. Bigs consume 21b of water with every lib of grain—if they can get the water. The cheapest kind of experience is other people"s experience. It sounds contradictory, but it iis good advice to fatten the pigs lean. I -There is nothing more convincing than success, but even success can be improved upon. Quickly-grown pigs are by any odds the most profitable. Fatten is a poor word. Grow is better. Be merciful even toward the pig about to be - killed. Xot how much, but how good. "ije pig is a machine for converting golden grain into golden coin. Put the pigs onthe platform scales occasionally. You will learn something. Profit comes not in how little we can keep the pig on, but how much we can get him to eat of a balanced ration. The younger the animal the more thoroughly it digests its food. | Therefore, mature pigs early. The six months 2001b pi_ costs one-half the 2001b , ilB months pig." A larger increase of I I weight is obtained for the amount of I food consumed in the early stages of I fattening: than in the later stages." I " -=