TOUKSniUE llOQ.l 



AND Til HI i; VARIOUS BREEDS. 



[iJEDKOUK IIOO. 



Kate' retrieved her first and only defeat, and 

 stood at the top of her class. Thirty-eight 

 .soveroigns had hi'en counted down on tl>o 

 table tor * Lady Kate.' She afterwards reared 

 a litter of sixteen, and enabled lier owner to 

 maintain an aged father and invaliil sister in 

 comparative comfort. She was, indeed, tlie 

 prop of tlie house; and by the side of many a 

 sty in Airedale, for years after her flesh 

 had been consumed in bacon, were her merit 

 and victories discussed in the long summer 

 evenings consecrated to pig-gossip. ' Lady 

 Kate' was of the middle breed ; a cross between 

 a small boar and a sow of the modern improved 

 large breed. 



"At Northallerton, iu 1S59, the finest lot of 

 large sows ever seen iu one place were col- 

 lected together. There were at least a dozen, 

 the live weight of each of which would not be 

 much less than half a ton. The Eoyal Agri- 

 cultural prize-winner at Norwich only got 

 second honours. When the two famous sows, 

 'Lady Havelock' and the 'Duchess,' went 

 for the Chester prize, the partisans of each 

 were confident of success, and the betting was 

 hot and heavy. ' Lady Havelock' was in 

 splendid condition, having been bought at a 

 long price, and 'bottled up' specially for 

 tliis event; while the 'Duchess,' from having 

 weaned her little ones so lately, was not quite 

 up to the mark, but was again in a breeding 

 state, and it was thought that would have 

 weight with the judges. It was, however, 

 universally agreed that one of the two must 

 win, for Yorkshire had never sent anythinf' 

 like them before. On "Wednesday night it 

 oozed out that the 'Lady' was the prize- 

 winner. The telegraph was set in motion, 

 and the morning trains brought in a motley 

 crowd of the Leeds pig fancy, with wives, aunts, 

 and sisters, all bound to the Ehoodee, to cele- 

 brate the triumph. There the ' missus' of the 

 ' Lady,' excited by the congratulations of her 

 friends, gave her native Yorkshire eloquence 

 full swing, and astonished the assembly with a 

 speech, in which she complimented the judges ; 

 vowed that ' Lady Havelock' should lick all 

 the world ; whispered her Tom would never 

 have bought the sow but for her, and an- 

 nounced that the prize money should be spent 

 ou the spot." In Yorkshire, the prejudice 

 against black pigs is now greatly modified. | 



TIIL Llll.MlIRIi: HOG. 

 The size of the Chehhiro hog is very great; 

 his proportions having been pronounced jri- 

 gantic ; but is now, however, almost extinct. 

 Ho was long-legged, long-eared, and had u 

 loose kind of unsightly skin. His colour was 

 either white, patched black and white, or 

 blue and white. The prevailing pigs, now 

 mostly used in Cheshire, are what are termed 

 " Manchester boars," which is only another 

 name for the Yorkshire- Cumberland breed. 



Til 15 WILTSHIRE HOG. 



This hog is a long-bodied, low animal, 

 hollow about the shoulder, aud high on tlio 

 rump, round in the bone, with middling- 

 sized pointed ears, and of a light colour. It 

 is supposed to have come originally from 

 Wales, and was of comparatively little value ; 

 but since it has been crossed with the im- 

 proved Berkshire breed, its worth has in- 

 creased. AViltshire bacon is celebrated, the 

 reason of which may partly be attributed to 

 the judicious crossing which has, from time 

 to time, been practised with the Neapolitan, 

 Chinese, and other improved breeds. These 

 are not so large as the former breed ; while they 

 are more compact, and fatten quicker, without 

 any deterioration to the quality of the meat. 



THE BEDFORDSHIRE HOG. 

 Bedfordshire cannot boast of an original pig 

 stock ; but one bred at AVoburn, aud described 

 by Mr. Youatt, was a good animal, although 

 it had no specially-marked character worthy 

 of notice. It was a bad smeller, but a good 

 feeder. It has, however, been allowed to die 

 out ; and a race sprung from Berkshire sows 

 crossed with Suflblk boars, has taken its place. 

 At present a white breed is looked upon with 

 the most favour in Bedfordshire. The late Duke 

 of Bedford introduced ^the improved breed, 

 and was the means of introducing them also 

 to East Lothian iu Scotland, where they carried 

 off" all the agricultural prizes. They have the 

 peculiarity of growing very rapidly, and, at the 

 same time, when mature, feeding very fast 

 iu proportion to the food given. The former 

 breed was so little distinguished, that the 

 tenant of a large farmer in the shire, said 

 he was not aware that such a race had an 



707 



