SWINE. 



379 



the present pigs of Italy have descended. It is not, we 

 tliink, overstraining the mark, to regard the excellent breeds 

 of pigs in Italy as the descendants of a long line of ances- 

 try — of breeds established before Rome fell.' The Neapoli- 

 tan is the most celebrated Italian breed, and has been the 

 source from "whence some of the most esteemed English breeds 

 have been in part derived. They have also been introduced 

 into the United States, but did not prove sufficiently hardy 

 for ordinary management. Their flesh is of very superior 

 quality. Martin's description of the breed is as follows : ' The 

 Neapolitan pig is small, black, almost destitute of bristles, 

 and remarkable for aptitude to fatten; it is short in the 

 snout, small in the bone, with sharp erect ears ; but it is by no 

 means hardy, at least in our country, and if the sow happens to 

 have litters in winter, it will 1)6 difficult, should the weather be 

 severe, to save the young pigs from dying. But as a cross 

 with some of our breeds, as the Berkshire, the Neapolitan race 

 is most valuable. The cross-breed exhibits improvement in 

 form without too great delicacy of constitution ; they have a 

 remarkable tendency to fatten, and though larger and stronger 

 than the Neapolitan, display all their good qualities. The Essex 

 breed is much indebted for its excellencies to the Neapolitan 

 intermixture.' 



IMPROVED ESSEX. 



