83 HARRIS OX THE PIG. 



the length of their bodies, ears, noses, tail, and hair ; the 

 longer the better, without reference to quality or sub- 

 stance,' just like some Devonshire squires of 500 ragged 

 acres, who value themselves on the length of a pedigree 

 unilluminated by a single illustrious name or action. 

 * They were of no particular color or character; but within 

 the last forty years they have been improved perhaps 

 more than any other stock, by judicious crosses and im- 

 portations.' Within the last twenty years a good deal 

 of Mr. Fisher Hobbs' stock (Essex) has been intro- 

 duced, and seem well adapted to the climate. The Berk- 

 si i ires nre also much approved. Mr. George Turner's 

 stock * are black, with short faces, thick bodies, small 

 bone, and but little hair, and exhibit as much good breed, 

 shape, and constitution, as any tribe of pigs in the king- 

 dom, and have won as many prizes at the breeding-stock 

 shows of the Royal Agricultural Society.' 



" 4 At eighteen months old they generally make from 18 

 to 20 score 360 Ibs to 400 Ibs., sinking the oifal. 



" Some of the original breed of the county may still be 

 seen in parts of North Devon ; they will jump a fence 

 that would puzzle many horses and some hunters. But, 

 taken as a whole, the pig stock of Devonshire is far above 

 the average of other counties ; the black pig being, per- 

 haps, the only foreigner who has ever been cordially wel- 

 comed as a settler in that very exclusive county." 



CORSETS. 



" Dorset," says Mr. Sidney, " has no reputation as a 

 pig-breeding county ; but one breeder, Mr. John Coate, 

 of Hamoor, has achieved a reputation for his Improved 

 Dorsets, by winning, amongst other prizes, the gold 

 mednl for the best pen of pigs in the Smithfield Club 

 Show not less than fiva times, viz., 1850, 1851, 1852, 1855, 

 and 1856. 



