80 Journal of the Bepaktment of Agriculture. — July, 1922. 



PIG FARMING. 



II. 



Our More Important Breeds of Pigs. 



H\ W. A. K. MoKKKi-. M.S(.'., Lectured- in Animal Husbaiuliy, aiul 

 Vifp-Prinripal, Elsenburg Scliool of AoTiniltuiv. 



The Large Black. 



(a) Origin. —The origin of the Large Black breed, like that of so 

 many of our domesticated breeds of live stock, is to a^large extent 

 veiled in obscurity. There is no doubt that the breed in common with 

 nearly all of our present-day pure-bred breeds of swine is descended 

 from the "Old English Hog" (Stis scrofa type) of the sixteenth 

 century. John Mills makes mention of the " Chinese pig " {Sus indica 

 type — vide article No. 1) in England, in 1776, the introduction being 

 credited by some authorities to Robert ]31akewell, of Dishley. This 

 breed was for the most part solid black in colour, very prolific, early 

 maturing, and the fact that they first landed in Essex — one of the 

 counties of origin of the breed — would justify the belief that these 

 Chinese pigs played an important part in the building-up of the 

 Large Black breed. 



In later years Lord Western introduced from Xaples the well- 

 known black " Neapolitan Breed," which may be traced back to the 

 early Roman type of swine. He Avas the biggest breeder of pigs in 

 Essex, and as a result of the crossing of the Essex with the Neapolitan 

 type, he evolved ''AVestern's Neapolitan Essex," which was later 

 responsible for the ''Essex Half-backs," and finally the present-day 

 " Wessex Saddle-backs," from which the Large Black breed was 

 built-up as the result of selection. Selection for solid black colour 

 was in all probability due — as reported by Young in .1807 — to the fact 

 that the white band of saddle-backed pigs was particularly subject to 

 sun scald when these pigs were grazed on clover. 



The Large Black, although only officially recognized since 1899, 

 when the Breed Society- was formed in England, is nevertheless one 

 of the oldest of our present-day breeds cf pigs. Large Blacks have 

 for many years been bred in the western and eastern counties of Great 

 Britain, i.e. Devon and Cornwall, and Suffolk and Essex 

 respectively. In the early days they were noted for their great size, 

 prolificacy, and grazing ability. It was not an unusual thing to hear 

 of Large Blacks tipping the scale at 800 lb., which weight they were 

 very often allowed to attain before being slaughtered. As might well 

 be supposed, they were distinctly coarse, having plenty of heavy bone, 

 rather prominent shoulders, a pendulous jowl, a coarse coat of hair, 

 more often than not d<>cidedly curly, and as a rule they were rather 

 wasty along the underline. Their great length was in keeping with 

 their rather long faces. They have been described as being cabbage- 

 like in ears, over which they had invariably little, if any, command. 

 The tail was inclined to be very low-set, coarse, long, and ending in 

 a heavy switch. 



