91 



slow fatteners ; consuming more food than was repaid by their 

 flesh.' But he observes that the ' general system of crossing now 

 pursued tends to the establishment of a uniform race throughout 

 every country ; that is, a race presenting the same outstanding 

 characteristics.' 



" Before proceeding to notice the various breeds of swine, it may 

 be observed that the general wants of the community in relation to 

 pork, can be best supplied by two descriptions or classes of hogs ; 

 one for supplying the market with meat to be eaten fresh, and for 

 baconing, as above-mentioned, and the other for making fat pork for 

 barrelling, &c. This classification will therefore be adopted in the 

 remarks which follow. Those breeds whose special characteristic is 

 the formation of fat, will be first considered. And, as having been 

 the principal stock in changing the character of the Old English, we 

 will notice first of all, 



" Tlie Chinese. — There are doubtless various breeds of swine in 

 the ' Celestial Empire.' Specimens brought from that country 

 frequently present so marked a contrast of character that no one 

 would hesitate to pronounce them of difl"erent breeds. They vary 

 in size and in color, ranging from white to black. Some of the early 

 importations made to England, and thence to this country, were 

 black ; and the idea appears to have been held that this was the 

 invariable color of Chinese swine. Hence CuUey, who wrote in the 

 year 1784, speaks of them as ' the Chinese or black breed.' 

 Youatt makes two distinct varieties of the Chinese, the ' white ' and 

 the ' black.' * The race, however, in all its varieties, possesses the 

 common characteristic of fattening easily. They are small-boned, 

 and acquire great weights in proportion to the bone and offal. Those 

 brought from their native country seldom have that perfection of 

 symmetry which is most esteemed in animals of this kind, and which 

 the cross-bred descendants soon acquire by skilful breeding-. The 

 pure Chinese fatten too much on the belly and too little on the 

 back, and the fat is inclined to be soft and oily. Youatt says, ' they 



* It may not generally be known that the progeny of the white hogs trans- 

 ported from Europe and the United States into the tropical regions of Africa and 

 America are usually black, and continue of that color through successive gen- 

 erations. How far this will explain the differences in the color of the Chinese 

 hogs, a series of physiological inquiries can only determine. 



