364 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



large proportional amount of lean meat; color slate or of a bluish plum; skin soft and fine, 

 and nearly destitute of hair. 



These swine mature early, and their flesh is very tender and delicate flavored. A lead 

 ing writer says of it, &quot; they make the most delicate of all pork, which tastes more like the 

 flesh of a fat, tender young chicken, than pork.&quot; The well known agricultural writer, Mr. 

 A. B. Allen, says of them: 



&quot; Notwithstanding they are so highly prized by amateurs, for the delicacy of their flesh, 

 these swine have not found much favor among Northern farmers, except by the way of a 

 stolen cross now and then. The reason of this is, I presume, in consequence of their almost 

 entire want of hair rendering them less hardy in enduring the winter than thicker haired 

 animals ; and the pigs, also, till they reach three or four months of age, being more tender. 

 I do not know of any one in New York or its vicinity who is ke eping up the pure breed. 

 Those I imported, not being at that time in a position for breeding, I made presents to my 

 friends, who inform me that they have suffered them to run out, finding the Berkshire more 

 profitable to keep on their farms. My brother, the late Mr. Eichard L. Allen, when traveling 

 in Italy, in the spring of 1869, wrote me as follows: 



I have never seen finer pigs than are generally to be found around Naples. They are 

 invariably black (by this it must be understood that they varied from this to a dark slate or 

 plum color), with very fine legs, muzzle, and tail, and scarcely any hair; and what there is of 

 it fine, and indicating speedy fattening qualities. The nose is generally too long, but I have 

 seen models which the white Prince Alberts or Suffolks could not beat. These animals are 

 coarser and less refined as we advance north, and in Eome are not so good, though they still 

 retain many of their excellent fattening qualities. I have repeatedly seen them of the same 

 type, wholly or mostly black, near the summit of the Alps, in Switzerland, where they are 

 kept during the summer months, to consume the offal of the g&quot;oats and cows. 



How these creatures subsist here during winter, I do not quite understand. I saw 

 myriads of them in Perugia (Italy) it seemed to be a market day going into town and 

 out of it, and into the railroad cars, lean, long-eared, frequently marked much like Berkshires, 

 with white on the face and feet, and many with a broad white stripe entirely around the fore 

 part of the body. Those I saw in the fields were also very thin, and seemed occupied with 

 grubbing, and always under the direction of an attendant; and I presume here they found all 

 their sustenance till the pastures again produced clover, and the goats and cows milk. The 

 pig seemed an important institution in the social arrangements of many of the peasants, as 

 with the Irish, though in another fashion. One served as a shepherd dog, his master patting 

 him as he ran up for orders; when he would start off on a gallop, to head off the sheep that 

 were going in a wrong direction, again returning for an approving caress, and a new mission 

 elsewhere. 



I have thought best to give the above extract entire, so that the reader may know the 

 difference between the pure, high-bred swine of Naples, and those which are undoubtedly 

 grades, in other parts of Italy and Switzerland, showing that, as such, they were hardy, 

 thrifty, and docile. 



In addition to the amusing anecdote I give from my brother s letter of a pig performing 

 the duties of a shepherd dog, in another letter, which I cannot now lay my hand on, or some- 

 where else, I have read of one acting as a pointer to a sportsman shooting quails and 

 partridges. This shows the Neapolitans as uncommonly tractable, and easily instructed, and 

 commends them as excellent pupils for circus performance.&quot; 



The Hog Of India. This animal is regarded as the ancestor of the Neapolitan, and 

 as one of the means of improvement in our present breeds of swine. It resembles the 

 latter in many respects, although differing essentially in others. This animal has a small 

 head, dished face, thin jowls, slender, erect ears; small, short legs, being fine in all its parts; 



