94 HAEKIS ON THE PIG. 



breed of pigs in this county is wretchedly bad, and has 

 been ever since I have known it.' 



" A third writes me : ' The Woburn breed, described by 

 Youatt, was a good sort of pig, of no particular character, 

 except great aptitude to fatten. They were discontinued, 

 in consequence of the sows being very bad Bucklers, in 

 favor of a cross-bred animal, the produce of Berkshire 

 sows and white Suffolk boars, the best that could be got. 

 These are prolific, of good quality, can be fed at any age, 

 and to a fair medium weight. A cross like this pays the 

 farmer best.' 



" Herefordshire has a useful white pig, but no attention 

 has been paid to it. 



" The dairymen in Cheshire breed and buy a great many 

 dark pigs, black, black-spotted, and red-and-black, of the 

 Shropshire and Welsh breeds, using Berkshire boars, and 

 also Manchester or * Yorkshire ' boars. 



" A tenant of R. Egerton Warburton, Esq., of Arley 

 Hall, writes in answer to a set of questions which that 

 gentleman was kind enough to circulate among his tenants: 



" ' There is no distinct Cheshire breed. The pigs are 

 mostly cross-bred, short-eared, and long-sided. The fa- 

 vorite breed is a cross between Berkshire and Chinese.' 



" The Shropshire, of which great numbers are introduced 

 into Cheshire by traveling pig-jobbers, are of a dark red- 

 and-black color, long-snouted, and lengthy ; not very fine 

 in the coat. 



" The Welsh pigs are generally a yellow-white, but some 

 are spotted black-and-white. 



"The (Cheshire) dairymen depend more on these Welsh- 

 men and proud Salopians than on breeding. The cross 

 of the Manchester boar with the Shropshire and Welsh 

 produces a larger and coarser breed than the small York- 

 shire. 



" The Cheshire farmers buy in their stores at about six- 

 teen weeks, feed them from eight to twelve months, and 



