CROSSBRED PIGS THE BEST

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1508, 24 January 1901, Page 54

CROSSBRED PIGS THE BEST

While the purebred pig may be the best for the fancy breeder and represents the highest standard, the cross of a, purebred on common stock will rive the best results in ordinary farming. This is a matter that leaves little room for doubt, and the most successful farmers make the most by judiciously crossing- :n this way. The purbred does not in one case in a hundred possess all those qualities of nardiness and power of growth essential to general use. A good deal of the fancy stock is anything but suited to ordinary farmers’ needs, and it is a mistake for any except a professional breeder to ’attempt to handle them alone. There is. of course, a difference in the fancy breeds for crossing, and one must certainly use good judgment in this work. I think, however (says a writer in “American Cultivator” few will ’ dispute me when I say that a. farmer will always be safe in getting Berksnires and PolandChinas. These two breed's seem to be the general favourites in this country for good and’ sufficient reasons. Both breeds will give good and quick results, and when fed liberally and pushed to their utmost they will yield very similar results. Now, to mj- way of thinking, a cross between these two breeds will prove of even more value_ than either breed alone. Although somewhat similar in their manner of developing and fattening, these two- breeds have their special qualities which really distinguish them more than any external mark. The tendency of young Berkshire pigs, when turned into clover fields and fed only a little feed through the summer, is to grow lean and lank, forming a fine carcase for fattening purposes later. This tendency to leanness, however, is somewhat too much emphasised to spit the. farmer, and he wishes he could reform it. Now, a cross with the Poland-China will show just this reform needed. The cross will hold up better under summer feeding than the pigs of either breed. In crossing any breed it is always well to know just what you are doing. The parents may not be purebred, but their ancestors should be pretty well known. To take any kind of a hog and cross it with a purebred mate is to bring into; existence an uncertainty. The pigs may prove satisfactory, and again they may not. The risk is almost too great, to run. It is not a difficult or expensive matter to secure- good hogs for breeding, and often thty crosses between good breeds can be obtained at little less expense than crosses between common, worthless pigs. In selecting the animals the qualities of the parents must be considered from another standpoint. Not every breed makes good mothers, and this is important. vV e know Berkshire sows make excellent mothers, and they are also prolific.