98 



potency, and on this account are of great value for crossing upon 

 the coarser breeds. They are medium to good breeders, and 

 their meat is of good quaHty, being generally firm and well 

 marbled. A summing up of these qualities marks the Berkshire 

 as an excellent pig for the improvement of common or coarse 

 stock and a dividend-payer for the farmer who keeps a few pigs 

 and feeds and cares for them well. That many farmers have 

 found him such is evidenced by the wide distribution of the breed 

 over the United States, Canada and Australia. 



Where this care and feed is insufficient, as is the case upon too 

 many farms, there is some doubt about the superiority of so highly 

 organized, nervously active a breed, and there is probably a wide 

 difiference in the appearance of a Berkshire in condition and a 

 scrub of the breed than between similar types of almost any other 

 of the improved breed of pigs. 



It is unnecessary to enter into a detailed description of the 

 beautiful, glossy, black, finely marked Berks, with which every 

 farmer is familiar who has noted them at our ao^ricultural shows. 

 Their broad, straight backs, well sprung ribs, deep fleshed loins, 

 and heavy quarters, appeal to every lover of tender, juicy pork, 

 while the general appearance of a good-conditioned and well 

 groomed Berkshire is such as will leave a lasting impression upon 

 the interested spectator. 



RABBITS IN NEW SOUTH WALES. 



The Government of New South Wales has spent over $4,000,- 

 000 for all kinds of means to prevent the growth of the rabbit 

 plague, and it has now been decided to fence in the whole country 

 with an immense wire net. 



The expense of this wire net is estimated to exceed $5,000,000, 

 and it is thought that the wire required for this purpose can be 

 imported from abroad at the cost of about $150 per mile, de- 

 livered at Sydney. 



The rabbit plague is increasing from year to year, which is best 

 shown by the fact that such an enormous amount as $5,000,000, 

 or nearly 10 per cent, of the annual revenue of the country, is to 

 be spent for this purpose. 



