Band books

The half-wild razorback, with never a clutch of corn to his
back, gives abundant food to the mountaineer over whose forest he
ranges. The cropped or slit ear is the only evidence of human care or
human ownership. He lives the life of a wild beast, and in the autumn he
dies the death of a wild beast; while his flesh, made rich with juices
of acorns, beechnuts, and other sweet masts, nourishes a man whose only
exercise of ownership is slaughter. The hog that can make his own
living, run like a deer, and drink out of a jug, has done more for the
pioneer and the backwoodsman than any other animal.
Take this semi-wild beast away from his wild haunts, give him food and
care, and he will double his gifts. Add a hundred generations of careful
selection, until his form is so changed that it is beyond recognition,
and again the product will be doubled. The spirit of swine is not
changed by civilization or good breeding; such as it was on that day
when the herd "ran down a steep place and was drowned in the sea," such
it is to-day.


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