POINTS OF A PIG. J 



PIGS, 



[points of a pig. 



POINTS OF A PIG. 

 In describing the points wliicli are to be 

 looked to in making the purchase of what is 

 called a good pig, it may be as well to remark, 

 at the outset, that care must be taken not 

 to be influenced by a mere name. There is 

 nothing easier in the world for an eager and 

 unscrupulous salesman to do, than to say that 

 his pig is a true Suffolk, when it is, in reality, 

 no more allied to the Suffolk, than the buyer 

 might be himself if he were a Hebrideau. The 

 only certain plan to go upon, is to make oneself 

 thoroughly acquainted with the approved points 

 of the animal, and rely upon that knowledge 

 rather than upon the declarations of the seller. 

 "If you find a pig," says Mr. Eichardson, 

 " possessed of such points of form as are indica- 

 tive or productive of early maturity and facility 

 of forming flesh, you need care little what it 

 has seemed good to the seller to call him ; and 

 remember that no name can bestow value upon 

 an animal deficient in the qualities to which I 

 have alluded. The true Berkshire— that pos- 

 sessing a dash of the Chinese and Neapolitan 

 varieties — comes, perhaps, nearer to the desired 

 standard than any other." The chief points 

 which characterise such a pig, are suflicient 

 depth of carcass, and such an elongation of 

 body as will insure a wide lateral expansion. 

 The loin and breast should be broad; the 

 breadth of the former denoting room for the 

 play of the lungs, and a consequent free and 

 healthy circulation, essential to the thriving 

 or fattening of the animal. The bone should 

 be small, and the joints fine. Nothing is more 

 indicative of high breeding than this ; and the 

 legs should be no longer than, when fully fat, 

 would just prevent the animal's belly from 

 trailing upon the ground. The leg being the 

 least profitable portion of the hog, no more of 

 it is required than is absolutely necessary for 

 the support of the rest. The feet should be 

 firm and round ; the toes lie well together, and 

 press straightly upon the ground; and the 

 daivs oven, upright, and healthy. " Many say 

 that the form of the head is of little or no con- 

 sequence, and that a good pig may have an 

 ugly head ; but the head of all animals is re- 

 garded as one of the principal points in which 

 pure or impure breeding will be the most 

 fibviously indicated. A high-bred animal will 

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invariably be found to arrive more speedily at 

 maturity, to take flesh earlier, and with greater 

 facility, and altogether to turn out more profit- 

 able than one of questionable or impure 

 stock ; and, such being the case, the head of 

 the hog is by no meana a point to be over- 

 looked by the intending purchaser." It should, 

 therefore, be rather light in bone ; not too flat 

 in the fore part, or too long in the snout. 

 " Indeed, the snout should, on the other hand, 

 be short, and the forehead rather convex, 

 recurving upwards ; the ear, while pendulous, 

 should be inclining somewhat forward, and, at 

 the same time, be light and thin." Nor should 

 the carriage of the pig be overlooked as an in- 

 dication of the health and spirit of the animal. 

 Of course, if you are purchasing a fat hog tor 

 slaughter, or a sow heavy with young, you are 

 scarcely to look for much sprightliness of de- 

 portment ; but, in young stores, sprightliness 

 is a consideration. 



The points of each breed, though generally 

 similar, have still a difference. In the small 

 breeds the hair should be soft and delicate, 

 and short, light, and silky in its texture ; nor 

 ought there to be any indications of bristles, 

 or any increased thickness of hair on the top 

 of the neck. The skin should be soft and 

 elastic to the touch ; whilst the cuticle should 

 be thin, and almost transparent. A thick 

 cutis is an almost invariable symptom of hard- 

 ness, and of difficulty in fattening. In the 

 side-view, the frame should have a resemblance 

 to a rectangle. The back should be long, and 

 show nearly a straight line from the rising 

 behind the ears to the setting-on of the tail, 

 with only a slight elevation over the shoulder 

 and ham, to the line, or even above it. This, 

 however, must be so slight as not to present a 

 slack back. When the back is so raised as to 

 be nearly as high as the shoulder-blade and 

 hip-bones, it is a good sign, for there must be 

 room for the active and full play of the vital 

 viscera. The elevation at the back of the ears 

 is, perhaps, the surest indication, as regards 

 form, of the power of the animal to accumulate 

 fat. When there is a fattening tendency in 

 this part of the animal, it may be taken as an 

 almost certain indication that the animal will 

 deposit it elsewhere with facility. The same 

 will take place with the shoulders and the 

 hams, which are the best portions of the animal. 



