44 'Hie Large White Yorkshire Fig. 



weighed very little short of 11 cwt. Boars and sows are also 

 to be seen at the summer breed shows scaling little short of 

 9^ cwt. each, and sometimes even more, which, if fatted to fat 

 stock show condition, Avould weigh well over 10 cwt. These 

 cases are, of course, exceptional rather than the rule, but they 

 go to show that the great weights obtained by the Yorkshire 

 pigs of old have not been lost to-day, at all events in some herds. 



To have been able to retain this great weight in the modern 

 Large White Pig, together with numerous improvements, has 

 stood its breeders in great stead, and that reason more than 

 any other has accounted for the great demand for this breed, 

 not only in every county in England, Scotland, and Ireland, 

 but in almost every country in the world. No other breed of 

 pig is in such demand for crossing and improving pui'poses 

 as the Large White, due in a great measure to its size, though 

 this point is one that is very apt to be forgotten by some Large 

 White breeders, who produce arguments in favour of what 

 they call compact pigs with fine bone. The arguments are, of 

 course, obvious if breeding only for the butcher, but breeders 

 of pure bred stock, which must also be suitable for improving 

 other breeds when crossed with them, must study another side 

 of the question if they are to retain the demand both at home 

 and abroad. 



Many breeds of pigs if allowed to breed together produce 

 bladders of lard with no sides of bacon about them, and which 

 feed into specimens of inferior weight. The Large White, be 

 he worthy of the name, will, if crossed, lift these creatures into 

 respectable animals having sufficient frame to build up sides 

 of lean bacon of the highest quality, with legs of sufficient 

 strength to carry them when fat. The aim of the Large White 

 breeder should be, then, to breed animals of the greatest size 

 possible, having sufficient flat bone with straight legs to carry 

 the animal when fully grown, and with deep sides, deep 

 sprung ribs and clean shoulders, straight back, good hams, and, 

 one of the most important points of all, plenty of length. A 

 breeder who can produce a good large specimen will have 

 more buyers than he knows what to do with, British and 

 foreign, no matter what the general trade is like at the time ; 

 but let him who breeds medium sized pigs with all other 

 desirable qualities try to make a good price of his pig, meaning, 

 of course, a pedigree price, and he will experience the greatest 

 difficulty, as similar pigs can be bred by any one, by the cart 

 load, so to speak. What is generally trtie of horses, cattle, and 

 sheep, namely, that it is very easy to breed good " little 'uns," 

 biit it is a very different matter to breed good " big 'uns," 

 applies very strongly to Large White pigs. Before leaving this 

 question of size, which, in our opinion, is the most important 



