150 THE HOG. 



latter many contingencies must be taken into calculation, viz., the 

 available means of feeding them; whether or not that food might 

 be more profitably disposed of; the facilities afforded by railways, 

 by the vicinity of towns, or large markets, &c. for disposing of them. 

 And the rapid growth of railways is now affording these facilities to 

 all parts of the United Kingdom. Formerly the inhabitants of 

 remote localities had no means of conveying their swine to a favor- 

 able market except the tedious one of driving them, or the expensive 

 one of conveying them in carts. 



Agricultural writers seem to be very much divided in their opi 

 nion's as to the relative advantages of breeding or buying, but all 

 allow that the keeping of swine is one of the most profitable parts 

 of the business of a farm. Whoever determines upon breeding must 

 make up his mind in the first place what is the shape and what the 

 qualities he wishes to obtain, and then steadily bear this in mind as 

 he pursues his object ; not with wavering caprice, now selecting a 

 cross of one sort, now one of another, but adhering to a system well 

 laid down, and then he will find his efforts attended with success. 

 The great desideratum in almost all establishments is an animal that 

 will grow rapidly, and attain to the earliest maturity and greatest 

 weight in the shortest period, and on the smallest and most econo- 

 mical amount of food. 



It is a generally admitted fact in the principles of breeding, that 

 the offspring usually inherit the bodily and constitutional qualities 

 of one or both parents ; and in swine it is the boar whose qualities 

 chiefly predominate in the offspring ; hence it will be necessary 

 most carefully to select the male animal. Thaer, in his admirable 

 work, says: 



CHOICE OF THE BOAR AND SOW. 



" In the breeding of swine, a? much as in that of any other live 

 stock, it is important to pay great attention not only to the breed, 

 but also to the choice of individuals. The sow should produce a 

 great number of young ones, and she must be well fed to enable her 

 to support them. Some sows bring forth ten, twelve or even fifteen 

 pigs at a birth, but eight or nine is the usual number, and sows 

 which produce fewer than this must be rejected. It is, however, 

 probable that fecundity depends also on the boar ; he should i>*ere- 

 fore be chosen from a race which multiplies quickly. 



" Good one-year bacon-hogs being much in request, we must do 

 all we can to obtain a breed well adapted for producing them. 

 Swine of such a breed may be known by their long bodies, low 

 bellies, and short legs. Long pendulous ears are usually coupled 

 with these qualities, and attract purchasers. If, however, as is often 

 advisable in large dairies and cheese factories, hogs are to be sold at 



