Mae Curran, age 13, of Montgomery, Ala., for her question:
ARE THERE MANY KINDS OF HOGS GROWN?
About a fourth of the meat eaten in the United States comes from hogs. These animals provide such popular items as bacon, ham, sausage and pork chops and roasts.
Farmers raise about 20 breeds of hogs. Bacon type hogs come mainly from three breeds: American Landrace, Tamworth and Yorkshire. This type of hog weighs from 200 to 230 pounds.
The most widely raised breeds of hogs include the Duroc, Hampshire, Spotted Swine, Poland China, Chester White, Berkshire, Yorkshire, American Landrace and the Tamworth. Farmers in the United States developed all these breeds except the Berkshire, Yorkshire and Tamworth, which were imported from England in the 1800s.
No one breed is greatly superior to another or its ability to produce meat, to grow swiftly or to produce large litters. A farmer can develop good meat hogs from any one of these breeds.
Farmers in almost every country raise hogs. People who see hogs wallowing in mud often consider them to be dirty and stupid. But hogs keep themselves cleaner than do most other farm animals. And hogs are also intelligent animals.
There are more than 680 million hogs on farms throughout the world. China has the most hogs, about a third of the world total. Brazil, Russia and the United States have about 10 percent each. About one third of the farms in the United States raise hogs.
Hogs rank with cattle, poultry and dairy products as one of the chief sources of farm income in the United States.
Scientific breeders have developed hogs that gain one and a half or more pounds every day. Corn is one of the best hog foods, and hogs eat about 40 percent of the entire corn crop grown in the United States.
Hog raising has become concentrated on "corn hog farms" in the Corn Belt of the Midwest. Leading hog raising states and provinces are Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, Ontario and Kansas.
Some religions, such as Islam and Judaism, forbid their followers to eat hog meat, because they regard hogs as unclean.
But others enjoy pork chops, spareribs, loin roasts, ham, bacon and sausage. Some hog meat, such as pig's feet and knuckles, is pickled. People also eat other parts of the hog's body, such as the stomach, kidneys, liver, ears, brain, skin, jowls, lips, tongue and throat. Lard used for cooking is made from hog fat. And some people enjoy fried chitterlings, or hog intestines.
Tanneries make it possible to produce many items after the skins of hogs are turned into leather. Favorite items are belts, gloves, jackets and shoes.
The hair of the hog provides bristles for brushes. It is also used to stuff mattresses and baseball gloves, and to make insulating materials.
Hog blood is used to make animal feeds, fertilizer and medicines. Drug firms make insulin, ACTH and other medicines from hog glands.
Hog fat is made into lard, soap, candles, salves, shaving cream, explosives and lubricating oils. And the bones of the hogs are ground for glue, fertilizer, animal feeds and bone oil.