552 



THE PIG 



long been known in Kentucky as the Thin Rind, and it has been 

 assumed that it came from the same source as the MacKay pig. 

 In 1835 Major Joel Garnett is said to have introduced Thin 

 Rinds to Kentucky, having purchased from eastern persons. 

 Some have claimed also that the ancestors of the Kentucky 

 Thin Rind were imported prior to 1842 from Tonquin, China, 

 by a merchant of New Orleans. The author has been unable to 

 secure any absolute information regarding the true ancestry of 

 this pig. No description of any breed has been found in the early 

 English writings which will apply to the Thin Rind of 1835. 



Characteristics of the Thin Rind pig. The head is of the straight 

 faced type, of medium size, with light jowl. The ears, though 

 erect, incline slightly forward. The back tends to be of only 

 medium width, not thick, and is fairly well supported. The 

 shoulders are light and well set in, and have fair width. The 

 body as a whole has only moderate depth and length, produc- 

 ing a fair side for bacon. The hams are lacking in fullness, not 

 possessing the thickness and depth of the more popular Ameri- 

 can breeds. The legs tend to be somewhat long, but the bone is 

 of good quality, while the pasterns and toes are usually well 

 placed. The color of the Thin Rind is usually black, with a 

 white belt about the body, this being known as a " listed " color, 

 or solid black. This white band or list is from four to twelve 

 inches wide, encircling the body just back of and about the fore 

 legs, the latter also being usually white. In discussing the color 

 Mr. H. F. Work says : 



While the list will long be retained by many of the breeders as the most 

 fashionable color, there are also those who try to run their herds pure black. 

 An ideal color is made up much as one may fancy, and the " color craze " 

 should not exclude worthy animals that are a little " off color," save where 

 spots occur. The breeding of blacks is an absolute necessity when the 

 listed hogs begin to show too much white, so as to narrow the belt. 



The size of the Thin Rind pig does not place it among the 

 largest breeds, it being about medium in size. Boars sometimes 

 attain weights of 500 pounds, but usually are much smaller. 

 The sows weigh about 300 pounds in ordinary condition. Bar- 

 rows in high flesh attain a weight of 300 to 400 pounds. At the 

 1903 International Live Stock Exposition John Good wine, Jr., 



