76 HAIIBIS ON THE PIG. 



"At Mr. Sadler's, Bentham, near Cricklade, one of the 

 most successful improvers of Berkshires, and eminent as a 

 manufacturer of North Wiltshire cheese, the committee 

 of the Ayrshire Agricultural Association saw ' three hun- 

 dred, every one of which was. marked in this manner.' 



" Mr. Sadler obtained his original stock from the late 

 Lord Barrington's herd. At Baker Street, he once won 

 the prize for the best fat pig in the yard with a sow near- 

 ly four years old, (a portrait of which is given in fig. 

 20,) which had been the mother of a numerous progeny. 

 She was 6 ft. 4 in. in length, 7 ft. 6 in. in girth, and 

 weighed 42 score, 16 Ibs., or 856 Ibs., more than many 

 fat heifers. But it seems to be the general opinion of 

 feeders that Berkshires pay best at moderate weights. 



" To develop the full size, they must not be allowed to 

 breed until twelve months old at least. Mr. Sadler con- 

 siders the improved Berks superior to any other (black ?) 

 breed, for size, quality, hardiness of constitution prolific^ 

 ness, early maturity, and aptitude to fatten. 



"My friend Mr. Thomas O wen, of Clapton, Hungerford, 

 who has had, in his forty years' experience as a Berkshire 

 farmer, ' some thousand through his hands dead,' writes 

 me: 



" * I remember the Berks pig a much larger and coarser 

 animal than now ; at present they are a medium, not a 

 large breed. They have been improved by judicious se- 

 lection and distant crosses with the Neapolitan, which 

 have added to their fattening qualities. They are much 

 esteemed by butchers for evenness of flesh (that is, more 

 lean to the proportion of fat) than any other breed, and 

 this is a good recommendation.' 



"The late Rev. T. C. James, who was a successful exhib- 

 itor of pigs at Chelmsford, and one of the judges of pigs 

 at the Royal Agricultural Society's show at Warwick, in 

 1859, wrote : * The improved Berkshire is a good big 

 animal, well calculated to produce a profitable flitch. A 



