THE ST. CHARLES HERALD — AUGUST 26, 1922
GAINESVILLE, FLA. — “Somebody ought to have a genuine Florida razorback mounted before they become extinct. They’re hard to find, now.”
Thus does no less an authority than the bureau of markets and crop estimates of the United States Department of Agriculture officially confirm the suspicion that the porker around which so many yarns have been spun soon will be a candidate for the museum.
The Florida farmer is responsible for the passing of a pack of bones and bristles chock full of mischief. The razorback was reared on a farm but was permitted to roam the woods until he became half wild and only a photograph could portray the damage he could do once he wormed his way into a plot of cultivated ground.
As an article of food he was worth little. Florida farmers for several years have been stocking their places with pure bred swine. Co-operative sales of fine pigs, boys’ and girls’ pig clubs organized and operated under the supervision of county agricultural agents, and numerous sectional organizations of hog breeders sounded the death knell of the razorback.
Floridians have said his backbone formed an edge sharp enough to cut a fence rail and many tourists believed the old yarn that the hundreds of thousands of pine trees on turpentine farms in the state, with the bark chipped off on two sides to a height of several feet, were damaged by the razorbacks, sharpening themselves, preparatory to cutting another fence. Snakes and alligators are rarely seen outside of zoos and now the razorback is passing.
From— The St. Charles Herald. (Hahnville, La.), 26 Aug. 1922. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
