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from Swine in America by F. D. Coburn (1916)
from CHAPTER III. Breeds, Popularity and Distribution
MISCELLANEOUS SORTS
Aside from the distinct breeds, a few miscellaneous sorts are known in America, but they are without standing. These are: The Razor-Back, as the wild or semiwild hog of the more southern or Gulf states and Mexico is called; the Guinea; the Mule-Foot or solid-hoofed; and the Cuino. Domesticated swine have been traced back in origin to the wild hog, and remarkable changes have been observed of the manner in which wild specimens kept in confinement will take on the appearance and flesh of those that are the product of man's improvement. On the other hand, improved varieties turned out to shift for themselves have assumed all the characteristics of wild hogs, although observations in New Zealand have shown that animals once domesticated do not revert to as wild or solitary a disposition as is noticeable in the undomesticated types. Experiments in confining wild animals have shown that advantages attained through years of domestication are valuable because they have been secured and made permanent by very slow processes, and that the opinion sometimes advanced that crosses with the Razor-Back or other untamed stock will give a much hardier and "choleraproof" constitution is without substantial foundation.
MULE-FOOT HOGS
The Mule-Foot or solid-hoofed hog is reared, but to an extent scarcely appreciable, in the southwestern part of the United States, and is said to be common in some portions of Old Mexico in considerable numbers. There are some in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas, and a few have found their way to Missouri and Indiana. There was organized at Indianapolis, Indiana, in January, 1908, "The National Mule-Foot Hog Record Association," composed of Indiana breeders, which is to record and publish pedigrees and promote the dissemination of these solid-hoofed swine, which are claimed by their admirers to be in all respects equal to those of other breeds, besides having a vitality that makes them strangers to ordinary diseases, and "cholera-proof"!
Hogs of this family are mainly black, with more or less white points or markings, have coats of soft hair, fairly gentle dispositions, fatten quite easily, and can be made to weigh at two years or more from 400 to 600 pounds, and sometimes heavier. As a matter of fact they have no particular merits not possessed by other breeds, but their having solid instead of cleft hoofs makes them, as freaks, objects of curiosity to most persons, and the type, regardless of merit, will not be without admirers for this one feature, if for no other. At the first auction sale of these hogs, in Johnson county, Indiana, in the autumn of 1908, twenty-three sows brought an average of $32.50 each and six boars $20.10 each. One sow sold for $60.
Many of these hogs have wattles on their lower jaws. These consist of a round or teatlike piece of skin or tissue hanging on each side of the lower jaw, covered with hair, and on a full-grown hog are from three to four inches long.
In southern Missouri and northern Arkansas these swine are designated as "Ozark hogs." Various statements of their origin are extant, but no one knows definitely about it, which is of little consequence, although they are well enough in their way.
MISCELLANEOUS SORTS
Aside from the distinct breeds, a few miscellaneous sorts are known in America, but they are without standing. These are: The Razor-Back, as the wild or semiwild hog of the more southern or Gulf states and Mexico is called; the Guinea; the Mule-Foot or solid-hoofed; and the Cuino. Domesticated swine have been traced back in origin to the wild hog, and remarkable changes have been observed of the manner in which wild specimens kept in confinement will take on the appearance and flesh of those that are the product of man's improvement. On the other hand, improved varieties turned out to shift for themselves have assumed all the characteristics of wild hogs, although observations in New Zealand have shown that animals once domesticated do not revert to as wild or solitary a disposition as is noticeable in the undomesticated types. Experiments in confining wild animals have shown that advantages attained through years of domestication are valuable because they have been secured and made permanent by very slow processes, and that the opinion sometimes advanced that crosses with the Razor-Back or other untamed stock will give a much hardier and "choleraproof" constitution is without substantial foundation.
MULE-FOOT HOGS
The Mule-Foot or solid-hoofed hog is reared, but to an extent scarcely appreciable, in the southwestern part of the United States, and is said to be common in some portions of Old Mexico in considerable numbers. There are some in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas, and a few have found their way to Missouri and Indiana. There was organized at Indianapolis, Indiana, in January, 1908, "The National Mule-Foot Hog Record Association," composed of Indiana breeders, which is to record and publish pedigrees and promote the dissemination of these solid-hoofed swine, which are claimed by their admirers to be in all respects equal to those of other breeds, besides having a vitality that makes them strangers to ordinary diseases, and "cholera-proof"!
Hogs of this family are mainly black, with more or less white points or markings, have coats of soft hair, fairly gentle dispositions, fatten quite easily, and can be made to weigh at two years or more from 400 to 600 pounds, and sometimes heavier. As a matter of fact they have no particular merits not possessed by other breeds, but their having solid instead of cleft hoofs makes them, as freaks, objects of curiosity to most persons, and the type, regardless of merit, will not be without admirers for this one feature, if for no other. At the first auction sale of these hogs, in Johnson county, Indiana, in the autumn of 1908, twenty-three sows brought an average of $32.50 each and six boars $20.10 each. One sow sold for $60.
Many of these hogs have wattles on their lower jaws. These consist of a round or teatlike piece of skin or tissue hanging on each side of the lower jaw, covered with hair, and on a full-grown hog are from three to four inches long.
In southern Missouri and northern Arkansas these swine are designated as "Ozark hogs." Various statements of their origin are extant, but no one knows definitely about it, which is of little consequence, although they are well enough in their way.