448 THE PIGS OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



SO much so that specimens have come over to our national 

 shows, and competed not unsuccessfully with the stock from 

 which they sprung. A remarkable instance of this was seen at 

 the Royal Agricultural Society's meeting at Worcester in 1863, 

 where Mr. Joyce contributed a choice assortment, and secured 

 several of the premiums. Of course, improved management 

 renders a better class of animals possible, and it is equally or 

 even more true of the pig than of either the sheep or the ox, 

 that half of the breeding goes in at the mouth. So long as the 

 Irish pig had to seek its own livelihood in lanes and villages, a 

 roach back and drooping quarters were suitable for its long 

 journeys and hard, precarious mode of living j indeed, the 

 improved animal could not have maintained its condition under 

 such treatment. 



The points of the improved Berkshire are as follows : Head 

 moderately short ; forehead wide, nose slightly dished, straight 

 at the end, not retrousse, as in the small breeds ; chaps full ; 

 ears slightly projecting, occasionally pendant and covering the 

 eyes. Prevailing colour black, with white blaze down the nose 

 or white star on forehead : sometimes uniformly dark ; but this 

 is the exception, and never the dead black of the Suffolk or 

 Essex. The pink tinge should be always apparent. The eye is 

 not sunk and closed, as in the breeds remarkable for feeding 

 properties, but large, intelligent, and denoting activity. 

 G-eneral effect pleasing. The head is well set; the neck, of 

 moderate length, is full and muscular ; the shoulders well set — 

 so that we have a perfectly regular outline. There is not the 

 extraordinary wealth of chine seen in the Suffolk, but the fore- 

 quarters are well proportioned. Occasionally we find a slight 

 deficiency in the girth, caused by the flatness of the fore ribs. 

 The back is fairly level, and the ribs, as a rule, tolerably sprung ; 

 a less perfect barrel, however, than is to be found in the Essex 

 and Suffolk blacks. Loins wide and well covered; quarters 

 often rather short and drooping — this is probably the weakest 

 point in the breed. The tail is usually set lower than the hips, 

 which gives a somewhat common character ; Mr. Weir has shown 

 this defect in his illustration. The gammon full and deep; 

 under-lines somewhat irregular ; the flank is often light. Such 

 are the general features of the improved Berkshire. The 



