THE FORM OF A GOOD PIG. 17 



constant feeding, they will not possess the qualities of 

 rapid growth and early maturity, in the highest degree. 



It is the weakest link that determines the strength of a 

 chain. And so far as inherited qualities are concerned, 

 the rapidity of growth will be influenced more by the pe- 

 riods of neglect and starvation, than by the occasional 

 periods of high feeding. Starving a young, well-bred 

 sow may not show any great and injurious effect on the 

 sow herself, but the offspring of such a sow, if she breed 

 at all, will be seriously injured. A few months starvation 

 and neglect may counteract nearly all the advantages 

 which the breed has acquired by generations of careful 

 breeding and feeding. 



CHAPTER III. 



THE FORM OF A GOOD PIG. 



The aim of all breeders of animals designed solely for 

 meat, is to have the body approximate as closely as possi- 

 ble to the form of a parallelepiped. In proportion to the 

 size, an animal of this form contains the greatest weight. 

 Hence it is, that farmers who have kept nothing but 

 common pigs, and who look upon a well-formed, grade 

 Essex or Suffolk as " small," are surprised to find, when 

 brought to the scales, that it weighs more than an old- 

 fashioned, ill-formed pig of much greater apparent size. 



Another advantage of this form is, that it gives a greater 

 proportion of the most desirable parts of the pig. 



In a pig of this form the ribs are well-arched. We can- 

 not have a flat, broad, " table-back " without this. And 

 consequently the muscle which runs along each side of the 

 vertebrae, is well developed, and we have a large quantity 

 of meat of the best quality. 



