82 HAKKIS ON THE PIG. 



Sussex and Berkshire sows ; and obliterating the white 

 of the old Essex, produced a class of animals of which he 

 says, in the letter already quoted : ' I have so completely 

 engrafted this stock upon British breeds, that I think my 

 herd can scarcely be distinguished from the pure blood " 

 (of Neapolitans). (See figure 23.) 



" The Western Essex pigs had great success at agricul- 

 tural shows. The old Essex, with its ' roach back, long 

 legs, sharp head, and restless disposition,' was capable of 

 being made very fat, but then it required time and an un- 

 limited supply of food. The advantage of a cross with 

 the Italian was obvious, and the fact that the new breed 

 was in the hands of a popular county squire was no small 

 help in extinguishing the native and unprofitable parti- 

 colored race. 



" But as Lord Western bred exclusively from his own 

 stock having attained what he considered perfection 

 always selecting the neatest and most perfect males and 

 females, his breed gradually lost size, muscle, and consti- 

 tution, and consequently fecundity ; and at the time of 

 his death, in 1844, while whole districts had benefited 

 from the cross, the Western herd had become more orna- 

 mental than useful. 



"But, in the meantime, the well-known Mr. Fisher 

 Hobbs, of Boxted Lodge, then a young tenant farmer at 

 Mark's Hall, on the Western estate, had taken up, among 

 other farm live-stock, the Essex pig, and made use of the 

 privilege he enjoyed of using Lord Western's male ani- 

 mals to establish a breed on strong, hardy black Essex 

 sows, even if somewhat rough and coarse, crossed with 

 the Neapolitan-Essex boars. On the carefully selected 

 produce of these, divided and kept as pure separate fam- 

 ilies, he established the breed that he first exhibited, and 

 has since become famous as the ' Improved Essex? a title 

 which Lord Western himself adopted when his tenant and 

 pupil had successfully competed with him. On Lord 



