362 SUFFOLKS AND SUBSOILERS. 



I think it will generally be conceded that the size of 

 the male is of less importance than his form, his tend- 

 ency to lay on large amounts of fat in proportion to 

 the food he eats, or his early maturity. Smallness of 

 bone and compactness of form indicate early maturity ; 

 and this is an essential element in the calculations of 

 the dairy farmer, who generally raises for pork rather 

 than for bacon, and whose profit will consist in fatten- 

 ing and turning early, or, at most, as young as from 

 twelve to fifteen months. A fine and delicate quality 

 of pork is at the present time highly prized in the 

 markets, and commands the highest price. For bacon, 

 a much larger hog is preferred ; but there can be little 

 doubt that the cross of the pure Suffolk or Berkshire 

 boar and the large, heavy and coarse sow, not uncom- 

 mon in the Western States, would produce an offspring 

 far superior to the class of hogs usually denominated 

 " subsoilers." with their long and pointed snouts, and 

 their thin, flabby sides. The principles of breeding, as 

 stated on pp. 70 and 71, and elsewhere in the preceding 

 pages, are equally applicable here, and are abundantly 

 suggestive on many other points. This is the import- 

 ant point, the selection of the proper breed and the 

 proper cross : for there is scarcely any class of stock 

 which varies so much in its net returns as this ; and 

 there is none which, if properly selected and judiciously 

 managed, returns the investment so quickly. 



Those who feed for the early market, and desire to 

 realize the largest profits with the least outlay of time 

 and money, will resort to the Suffolk, the Berkshire, or 

 the Essex, to obtain crosses with sows of the larger 

 breeds, and will breed up more or less closely to these 

 breeds, according to the special object they have in 

 view. The Suffolks are nearly allied to the Chinese, 

 and possess much the same characteristics. Though 



