SWINE. 



SWINE. 



tugal, Savoy, and the north and south of Italy. 

 This pig is of small size, very productive, and 

 a ready fattener; it is usually of a copper 

 colour, but sometimes occurs of a bright fiery 

 red. The head is unusually short, the jaws 

 thick, the forehead stunted; the skin falls in 

 folds above the eyes ; the ears are short, pointed, 

 and almost erect ; the neck is thick and strong, 

 the chest very vigorous, the body round and 

 lengthened, the legs short and strong, the skin 

 very thin, and the bristles short and slender. 



The Zealand hog is of a mixed Chinese race, 

 and weighs from 160 to 240 Ibs. about the ^nd 

 of its second year. It has the ears erect, body 

 short, back strongly bristled, tail small. 



The Turkish ho% fattens in half the time re- 

 quired by many of the larger and more com- 

 mon breeds, and weighs from 300 to 400 Ibs. 

 It prevails throughout European Turkey, and 

 a great portion of the Austrian dominions. 

 Ears straight and pointed ; legs short and fine ; 

 body scarcely longer than high, and covered 

 all over with slender frizzled bristles, of a gray 

 colour, more or less deep, approaching to 

 rufous brown. 



The pis; of Guinea (not the Guinea pig) is a 

 remarkable variety, which is little known. 

 The back is bare ; head small ; ears long, 

 slender, and much pointed; tail long, naked, 

 reaching to the ground ; hair short, red, shining, 

 finer and softer than that of any other knosvn 

 race. 



In Asia only Europeans and the low Hindoos 

 eat pork. Wild hogs are abundant, and do so 

 much injury to the rice fields that it is a mate- 

 rial part of the ryot's business to watch them, 

 which he does night and day, on a raised plat- 

 form of bamboos. 



Of the Mediterranean breeds there are seve- 

 ral, which are approved and held in much esti- 

 mation ; among these are the Maltese, the 

 Neapolitan, &c., and hogs are occasionally 

 brought from the sea-ports of Turkey and 

 Spain. 



The Maltese breed was at one time in great 

 favour in England ; it was of small size, of a 

 black colour, nearly destitute of bristles, with 

 an aptitude to fatten readily. A breed from 

 the country near Naples has been recently in- 

 troduced, which is extensively employed as a 

 cross with the existing native breeds. This 

 Neapolitan breed is very similar to the Maltese 

 breed already alluded to. Their flesh is good 

 and delicate, but the animals are not hardy, 

 and quite unfit for general use. The duchy of 

 Parma is said to produce the best hogs of Italy, 

 which possess all thj good qualities of those 

 about Naples. They are also more hardy, and 

 of larger size. 



In Mexico they have a very fine race of hogs, 

 which are regarded as an important article of 

 commerce. They are kept very clean, and 

 often given a cold bath, as the breeders find 

 from experience that cleanliness contributes 

 mainly to their rapid growth, upon less food. 

 This is fully corroborated by the following ex- 

 periment, which was recently made by a gen- 

 tleman from Norfolk. Six pigs of nearly equal 

 size were put to keeping at the same time, and 

 treated the same as to food and litter for seven 

 weeks. Three of them were left to shift for 



themselves as to cleanliness ; the other three 

 were kept as clean as possible by a man em- 

 ployed for the purpose, with a currycomb and 

 brush. The last consumed in seven weeks 

 fewer peas by five bushels than the other three, 

 yet weighed more when killed by two stone and 

 four pounds upon the average. 



Bullock informs us that the Mexicans are 

 very curious in rearing and feeding swine, and 

 that an essential requisite in a Mexican swine- 

 herd is an agreeable voice, in order that he 

 may sing or charm the animals into peace 

 when they quarrel and fight, and lull them to- 

 sleep at proper times, to promote their fatten- 

 ing. (Travels, 1824.) There are many wild 

 swine in Paraguay. 



Characteristics of a good hog. There is evi- 

 dently much diversity in swine in different cir- 

 cumstances and situations. Like other descrip- 

 tions of stock, they should be selected with 

 especial reference to the nature of the climate, 

 the keep and the circumstances of the manage- 

 ment under which the farm is conducted. The 

 chief points to be consulted in judging of the 

 breeds of this animal are the form or shape of 

 the ear, and the quality of the hair. The pen- 

 dulous or lop ear, and coarse, harsh hair, are 

 commonly asserted to indicate largeness of size 

 and thickness of skin ; while erect or prick ears 

 show the size to be smaller, but the animals to 

 be more quick in feeding. 



In the selection of swine, the best formed are 

 considered to be those which are not too long, 

 but full in the head and cheek ; thick and rather 

 short in the neck; fine in the bone; thick, 

 plump, and compact in the carcase ; full in the 

 quarters, fine and thin in the hide; and of a 

 good size according to the breed, with, above 

 all, a kindly disposition to fatten well and expe- 

 ditiously at an early age. Depth of carcass, 

 lateral extension, breadth of the loin and breast, 

 proportionate length, moderate shortness of the 

 legs, and substance of the gammons and fore- 

 arms, are therefore absolute essentials. These 

 are qualities to produce a favourable balance 

 in the account of keep, and a mass of weight 

 which will pull the scale down. In proportion, 

 too, as the animal is capacious in the loin and 

 breast, will be generally the vigour of his con- 

 stitution; his legs will be thence properly ex- 

 tended, and he will have a bold and firm foot- 

 ing on the ground. 



For head and ears, the small Berkshire or 

 Oxford pigs are good models; and for true 

 shape, the improved Shropshire, Hereford, and 

 Gloucester. If colour deserve any considera- 

 tion, perhaps the light, sandy, and yellow 

 spotted are to be preferred, as these appear to 

 afford by far the most delicate meat when dead, 



Procreation. The sow generally goes with 

 young four lunar months, but the period of ges- 

 tation in different species varies considerably 

 According to the experiments of M. Teissieron 

 the gestation of animals, it appears that the ex- 

 treme periods of 25 sows were 109 to 143 days, 

 which would lead to the inference that they go 

 on an average 127 days from the timo of 

 taking the boar until they farrow; but expe- 

 rience proves that they most commonly farrow 

 within little more than 16 weeks, although they 

 occasionally go with young 20 weeks-.. Both 



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