THE HOG AS A DOMESTIC ANIMAL 99 



of Ireland. In order to obtain the advantages of the English market, 

 great improvements have taken place in the breed of pigs kept in 

 Ireland. 



As the Chinese pig is naturalized in our country, a few remarks 

 upon it may not be out of place. 



The Chinese pig is seldom kept in its pure state : its flesh indeed 

 is exquisitely delicate, especially that of tshe sucking pig : and 

 though it fattens rapidly and at little cost, yet, from the unctuous 

 character of the fat, the sides are not calculated for making prime 

 bacon. Besides, it is tender, susceptible of cold, and difficult to 

 rear, the more so as the sows do not generally make good nurses. 

 At the same time, as a source of improvement among our indi- 

 genous breeds, by judicious intercrossings, too much cannot be said 

 in its praise ; indeed, it has been one of the most successful means 

 of introducing reform among our old stocks ; it has corrected the 

 faults of gauntness, of heavy bones, of slow feeding, of coarse flesh, 

 and of a dense skin. True, it has caused a reduction in size, but not 

 in hardiness, by its intercrossing; yet what advantages have not 

 been gained by that very practice ? 



Thus far have we endeavored to illustrate the various influential 

 breeds of our own country, including Scotland, Ireland, and the 

 smaller islands. To have rigidly analyzed, or rather attempted an 

 analysis, of the varieties peculiar to each county or district, would- 

 have been folly the thing is impossible. Mixtures and intermix- 

 tures are perpetually taking place, and individuals are from time to 

 time establishing their own favorite crosses. In every county is 

 this system of improvement in operation ; the whole is fluctuating, 

 yet the broad strong current bears on towards improvement. Ne- 

 vertheless, in this tideway impulse, the strong hand of a judicious 

 steersman is the more necessary : the mark may be overshot. We 

 mean that deficiency of profitable size, weakness of constitution, and 

 infertility, may, unless judgment in crossing be exercised, detract 

 from the merits of an otherwise most valuable stock. 



It would be interesting, could we truly ascertain the amount of 

 property invested in the United Kingdom, not only in the porcine 

 race, but in other descriptions of live stock ; all the attempts of the 

 kind are merely approximations, yet they are not therefore value- 

 less they give, at least, general ideas on the subject, and not un- 

 frequently surprise us. 



M'Queen, in his Statistics of the British Empire, has thus stated 

 the enormous value of live stock in the United Kingdom, exclusive 

 of domestic poultry (by-the-bye no trifle.) It appears that there 

 are 2,250,000 houses, of the total value of 67,000,000, [the pound 

 sterling is $4 86,6] of which more than 1,500,000 are used in agri 

 culture, and valued at 45.000,000 ; the number of horned cattle in 

 the kingdom is about 14,000,000, of the value of 216,000,000 ; the 



