THE MODERN ENGLISH BREEDS OF PIGS. 87 



" Mr. Thomas Wright, of Quarry House, Great Barr, 

 (who did so much toward founding the Bingley Hall 

 show,) considers the cross of the Berkshire with the Tarn- 

 worth 'produces the most profitable bacon pigs in the 

 kingdom, the Berkshire blood giving an extraordinary 

 tendency to feed, and securing the early maturity in which 

 alone the Tamworth breed is deficient. The cross of the 

 Berkshire boar with large white sows has been found to 

 produce most satisfactory results to plain farmers. My 

 own notion with regard to all agricultural stock is, that 

 we should abandon crosses and stick to our pure breeds, 

 adapting them to our particular wants by careful selec- 

 tion.' 



" The TAMWORTH BREED is a red, or red-and-black pig, 

 hardy, prolific, and the best specimens well shaped, but 

 slow in maturing. It seems a near relation to the old 

 Berkshire ; but modern Berks breeders carefully exclude 

 all red-marked pigs from their breeding-sheds. Reddish 

 hairs at the tips of the ears of Essex would be permitted 

 and admired. Mr. Alderman Baldwin, of Birmingham, 

 is a noted breeder of this hardy, useful pig, which, how- 

 ever, does not seem to have any success as a prize winner. 

 At the Royal Agricultural Show at Warwick, 1859, the 

 Yorkshire and Berkshire breeds divided all the honors." 



DEVONS. 



" Devonshire," says Mr. Sidney, " has an excellent breed 

 of black pigs, which partake, for the most part, of the 

 character of the improved Essex and Berkshire. The 

 climate seems to require less hair than the northern and 

 midland counties. Mr. George Turner, the great cattle- 

 breeder of Devon, has done a good deal in the last forty 

 years towards improving the west country black pigs by 

 his * stud ' and importations. 



" The ' original Devon pigs were valued according to 



