Compared with the enormous numbers fattened and marketed on the hoof, a very small proportion of the hogs turned off the farms each year are sold dressed. Yet with many farmers, particularly those who have only a small number to dispose of, it is always a question as to which is the better way to sell hogs, dressed or alive. No individual experience can be taken as a criterion, yet here is a record of what one Michigan farmer did in the way of experiment. He had two lots of hogs to sell. One litter of seven weighed a total of 1605 lbs. alive, and dressed 1,335 lbs., which was three pounds over a one-sixth shrinkage; one litter of five weighed 1540 lbs. and dressed 1320 lbs., losing exactly one-seventh, they being very fat. The sow weighed 517 lbs. and dressed 425, dressing away about 18 lbs. to the 100 lbs. He was offered $3.80 per 100 lbs. live weight, for all the hogs, and $3 for the sow. He finally sold the seven hogs, dressed, at $5 per 100 lbs., the second lot of five at $4.75, and the sow at $4.25. He decided that by dressing the hogs before selling, he gained about $12.50, aside from lard and trimmings. The experience here noted would not necessarily hold good anywhere and any time. Methods employed in packing hogs have been brought down to such a fine point, however, with practically every portion utilized, that unless a farmer has a well-defined idea where he can advantageously sell his dressed pork, it would not pay, as a general thing, to butcher any considerable number of hogs, with a view of thus disposing of them. AN EASILY FILLED PIG TROUGH. To get swill into a pig trough is no easy matter if the hogs cannot be kept out until it is filled. The arrangement shown in Fig. 25 will be found of much value and a great convenience. Before pouring in the swill, the front end of the pen, in the form of a swinging door suspended from the top, is placed in the position shown at _b_. The trough is filled and the door allowed to assume the position shown at _a_. [Illustration: FIG. 25. PIG TROUGH ATTACHMENT.] AN AID IN RINGING HOGS. A convenient trap for holding a hog while a ring is placed in its nose consists of a trunk or a box without ends, 6 feet long, 30 inches high and 18 inches wide, inside measure. This trunk has a strong frame at one end, to which the boards are nailed. The upper and lower slats are double, and between them a strong lever has free play. To accommodate large or small pigs, two pins are set in the lower slat, against which the lever can bear. The pins do not go through the lever. This trunk is placed in the door of the pen, and two men are required to hold it and ring the hogs. When a hog enters and tries to go through, one man shoves the lever up, catching him just back of the head, and holds him there. The second man then rings him, and he is freed. Fig. 26 exhibits the construction of the trap, in the use of which one can hold the largest hog with ease. [Illustration: FIG. 26. TRAP FOR HOLDING HOG.]