LARGE VS. SMALL BREEDS AND CROSSES. 23 



or live weight. Two Cotswold sheep, weighing 120 Ibs. 

 each, will eat as much food as three Southdown sheep, 

 weighing 80 Ibs. each. But the two Cotswolds will gain 

 much more than the three Southdowns. The average in- 

 crease for one hundred Ibs. live weight was, with the Cots- 

 wold, 2 Ibs. 2 oz. per week ; and with the Southdowns, 

 1 Ib. lOf oz. per week both breeds having precisely the 

 same food. In other words, two Cotswold sheep, weigh- 

 ing 120 Ibs. each, would eat the same amount of food as 

 three Southdowns weighing 80 Ibs. each; but the two 

 Cotswolds would gain 17 Ibs. each, while the three South- 

 downs gained only 9 Ibs. each. Where Cotswold mutton 

 brings as much per pound as the Southdown, it is evident 

 that the Cotswolds are the more profitable breed for fat- 

 tening. 



We know of no similar experiments on the different 

 breeds of pigs. Reasoning from analogy, we might con- 

 clude that, as the large Cotswold sheep gained much more, 

 for the food consumed, than the small Southdowns, the 

 large Yorkshire pigs would gain much more, for the food 

 consumed, than the small Suffolks. 



This may or may not be true. If it should prove to be 

 a fact, we should conclude that a pig of the large breed 

 ate much more food over and above the amount required 

 to keep up the animal heat and sustain the vital functions, 

 than a pig of the small breed; and, as we have attempted 

 to show in a previous chapter, the large pig would, in such 

 a case, gain much more in proportion to the food consum- 

 ed, than the small pig of the same age. 



There can be no doubt that a large pig, other things 

 being equal, will eat more food than a small pig of the 

 same age. 



It is equally true that a large pig, at ordinary temper- 

 atures, will not require, in proportion to its weight, as 

 much food to keep up the animal heat as a small pig. A 

 pig weighing 100 Ibs. will not radiate as much heat as two 



