CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



colour is white, the bristles long but thin, and the 

 skin often red, and somewhat tender. In the 

 north of England, droves of pigs, mostly of this 

 breed, may be seen in the parks among the cattle. 

 The Chinese breed is small in size, cylindrical in 

 form. The back is a little hollow, and the belly 

 slightly projecting. The ear is small, and so are 

 the bones. The bristles are as soft almost as 

 hair, and the colour is generally white. The head 

 and face resemble more those of a calf than any 

 of the other specimens of the porcine tribe do. 

 The Essex pig is popular in a considerable 

 portion of England, though it has not been very 

 numerously introduced in Scotland, except, per- 

 haps, in the shape of a cross. The Essex pig is up- 

 eared, has a rather long snout, a lengthy fleshy 

 carcase, with small bone. The colour is invariably 

 black, and the skin is almost destitute of hair. 

 For long this breed had to contend with a sort 

 of prejudice against them, as being restless, ill to 

 feed, and not calculated to develop in accordance 

 with the amount and value of the food they con- 

 sumed. In neither of these respects, however, 

 are there any complaints now ; and at the Royal 

 Agricultural Society of England's shows, as well 

 as in the Smithfield and Birmingham fat-stock 

 exhibitions, many beautifully plump, portly porkers 

 of this variety enlist public notice. 



Then the old Scotch pig claims a word. It 

 is comparatively small in size ; generally white 

 or gray in colour ; long in reaching maturity, and 

 calculated to feed on almost any sort of food. It 

 is not very fine in the bone, nor so plump nor 

 flesh-producing as the Berkshire and some of the 

 more fashionable breeds ; but it has been a valu- 

 able animal in its day and generation, and still 

 exists in considerable numbers in Orkney and 

 Shetland, and in the Western Isles. 



The Irish pig of bygone years was a tall, leggy, 

 bony, somewhat coarse-coated, heavy-eared ani- 

 mal, often imperfectly fed, yet generally in fair 

 condition. By the introduction of improved 

 breeds from England, and more careful breeding, 

 the Irish pig, as well as the native Scotch pig, 

 has been immensely improved assimilated much 

 more to the English varieties. Besides those 

 enumerated, there are the huge breeds of the mid- 

 land counties of Sussex, Shropshire, Cheshire, 

 &c. which form attractive features in our national 

 show-yards, alike in respect of their colossal 

 proportions, and unmistakable evidences of care- 

 ful breeding and high feeding. 



Some of the best pigs in the country are the 

 result of judicious crossing with the principal 

 breeds. In Scotland, for instance, many of the 

 swine are not of any pure breed, but the old 

 native animal vastly improved by the infusion of 

 a dash of higher blood. This improvement 

 system has not yet proceeded so far over the 

 country as it should, and will soon do, in the 

 interests of all concerned. 



The Selection of Breeding-pigs. 



The following points, enumerated by Mr Rich- 

 ardson, deserve the attention of every one about 

 to select breeding-pigs. 'In the first place, 

 sufficient depth of carcase, and such an elongation 

 of body as will insure a sufficient lateral expan- 

 sion. Let the loin and breast be broad. The 

 breadth of the former denotes good room for the 

 play of the lungs, and a consequent free and 



658 



! healthy circulation, essential to the thriving or 

 fattening of any animal The bones should be 

 small, and the joints fine. Nothing is more 

 indicative of high breeding than this ; and the legs 

 should be no longer than, when fully fat, would 

 just prevent the animal's belly from trailing upon 

 the ground. The leg is the least profitable portion 

 of the hog, and we therefore require no more of 

 it than is absolutely necessary for the support of 

 the rest See that the feet be firm and sound ; 

 that the toes lie well together, and press straightly 

 upon the ground ; as also that the claws are even, 

 upright, and healthy. Many say that the form of 

 the head is of little or no consequence, and that 

 a good pig may have an ugly head, it being no 

 affair of anybody but the animal himself which 

 has to carry it ; but I regard the head of all ani- 

 mals as one of the very principal points in which 

 ! pure or impure breeding will be most obviously 

 indicated. A high-bred animal will invariably be 

 found to arrive more speedily at maturity, to take 

 ; flesh earlier and with greater facility, and alto- 

 ! gether to turn out more profitably than one of 

 I questionable or impure stock ; and such being the 

 ! case, I consider that the head of the hog is by 

 no means a point to be overlooked by the intend- 

 ing purchaser. The description of head most 

 likely to promise, or rather to be the concomitant 

 of, high breeding, is one not carrying heavy bone, 

 not too flat on the forehead, or possessing too 

 elongated a snout indeed, the snout should, on 

 the other hand, be short, and the forehead rather 

 convex, recurving upwards ; the ear, while pen- 

 dulous, should also be inclining somewhat fonvard, 

 and at the same time light and thin. Nor would 

 I have the buyer pass over even the carriage of 

 a pig. If this be dull, heavy, and dejected, I 

 would be disposed to reject him, on suspicion of 

 ill health, if not of some concealed disorder 

 actually existing, or just about to break forth. 

 Nor is colour to be altogether lost sight of. In 

 the case of pigs, I would, as in reference to any 

 other description of live-stock, prefer those colours 

 which are characteristic of our most esteemed 

 breeds. If the hair be scant, I would look for 

 black, as denoting connection with the delicate 

 Neapolitan ; but if too bare of hair, I would be 

 disposed to apprehend too intimate alliance with 

 that variety, and a consequent want of hardihood, 

 that, however unimportant, if pork be the object, 

 renders such animals hazardous speculations as 

 stores, from their extreme susceptibility of cold, 

 and consequent liability to disease.' 



One cannot be too careful in the selection of 

 proper stock to breed from. If the desire is to 

 get early into the market, and to produce pork, 

 the varieties most likely to take on flesh quickest, 

 and come earliest to maturity, should be chosen. 

 If, on the other hand, bacon is the object, the 

 larger breeds are the most suitable. In any 

 case, the boar should be rather less in size than 

 the sow, and more compact and hard in the flesh. 

 With pigs, as with cattle-breeding, what is called 

 ' in and in ' (that is, with animals of close con- 

 sanguinity) is disapproved by most people, as 

 calculated to decrease the size of the progeny, 

 and weaken the constitution. Several instances 

 could be pointed to of successful close breeding 

 of this kind among cattle, but few among pigs ; 

 so that in the case of the latter, at anyrate, 

 should be, and generally is, studiously avoide 



