The Pride of Meadow Brook Farm
A Kennewick breeder argues that the aesthetic and psychological value of pure-bred livestock is just as vital to farm success as the bottom line.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
I suppose that nobody ever pooh-poohed any more than I did when, some years ago, it was suggested to me that I ought to keep pure-bred hogs. The ultimate end of the hog is the pork barrel and the chopping block. Why worry about his color or blood? A hog is a hog. But let us see if there is not another side. It costs but very little extra to have your herd all pure-bred. As soon as it is known in the neighborhood that your herd is all pure-bred, those who want to buy will come to you and be willing to pay a few extra dollars. But where is the great gain? To yourself and your family. Did you ever see a band of fifty or one hundred pure-bred Duroc-Jersey hogs feeding in the green alfalfa fields, their golden-colored backs glistening in the morning sunlight? Alike as two peas, every one a beauty. If you don't believe it, come out to Meadow Brook Farm, Kennewick, and see 'Pratt's Pedigreed Hogs.' Could you own a herd of pure-breds and not give them more and better care? Your son would take more interest in the farm, and the hired man wouldn't forget to feed them. A herd of pure-bred hogs on any farm is an incentive to better care and better results.
“A herd of pure-bred hogs on any farm is an inspiration and an incentive to better care and better results, for one follows the other as night follows day.”
This piece captures the early 20th-century transition from subsistence farming to the 'scientific' agricultural marketing that defined the development of the Tri-Cities area. Today, the prestige once associated with pure-bred livestock has morphed into the branding of regional agricultural products, yet the core sentiment—that pride in one's work leads to better quality—remains a cornerstone of the local farming identity.
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