THE BERKSHIRE PIG. 449 



carcass stands on short legs, and the bone, whilst stronger than 

 the small sorts, is well proportioned, and by no means stronger 

 than is necessary. The strength and character of the coat 

 varies according to sex and management. The effect of confine- 

 ment and close breeding is to reduce the hair. We have a 

 great objection to bristles, which indicate a thick skin, coarse 

 offal, and slow feeding ; but we also equally dislike the thin, 

 weak, soft hair, which is a sure evidence of delicacy, especially 

 in the boar ; here, at least should be plenty of hair, otherwise 

 the offspring will be sadly deficient. In the sow, fine long hair 

 is desirable — too much and too strong hair is indicative of 

 coarseness. But if the pig is required to work for its living 

 and to officiate as the scavenger of the farm, there must be con- 

 stitution, and we cannot have this without hair. The great 

 merit of the Berkshire over most other breeds consists in the 

 larger proportion of lean meat, and the distribution of fat and 

 lean when jjroperly fed ; consequently a given live weight 

 realises a larger proportion of available meat than any other 

 breed, except perhaps the Tamworths. We have stated our 

 opinion that the improved Berkshire comes under the category 

 of middle-sized rather than large breed. It is true that 

 extraordinary weights have been obtained by individual speci- 

 mens : thus we knew of one instance in Herefordshire where an 

 animal weighed 28 score or 5601b., dead, at a year old j but, as 

 a rule, with ordinary feeding, from 15 to 16 score is the average 

 result of a year's growth, supposing always that the animal is 

 well kept from birth. 



The development of the breed into a foremost position reaches 

 back some twenty-five years, when the persevering efforts of 

 certain breeders, and especially Mr. W. Hewer, of Sevenhamp- 

 ton, the Eev. H. Bailey, of Swindon, and others, gained the 

 attention of the Eoyal Agricultural Society, who in the year 

 1862 gave a separate class for the first time. Now it is not 

 uncommon to find the Berkshires making up nearly half the 

 total entry. Some really extraordinary collections have been 

 seen of late years. Nor is it at the breeding shows only that 

 the Berkshires have won distinction ; some ten years back the 

 gold medal for best animals in the Smithfield Show went to a 

 grand lot of Mr. Biggs's, of Cublington, and the prizes for 



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