156 THE HOG. 



what variable : Cuvier says, " quatre mois ;" others give it as tnrea 

 months, three weeks, and three days ; that is. 108 days. According 

 to Mr. Tossier, out of fifteen sows, one littered in 109 days, and one in 

 123 days, the latitude being fourteen days ; according to others, the 

 range of gestation extends from seventeen weeks, or 119 days, to 

 twenty weeks, or 140 days. According to Desmarest, the wild 

 sow goes with young four months and a few days, and produces from 

 three to nine at a birth, suckling them from three to four months. 

 It would appear, then, from these observations, that the period of 

 gestation in the domestic sow varies according to age, constitution, 

 food, and the peculiarities or idiosyncrasies of the peculiar breed. 

 Young and weakly sows not only produce fewer pigs, but farrow ear 

 lier than those of more mature age and sounder constitution ; and 

 moreover, as might be expected, their offspring are deficient in vigor, 

 often indeed puny and feeble. Here, having trenched upon the sub- 

 ject, we may advert to the principles upon which the breeding of 

 swine should be conducted. Two great objects are in view, fertility 

 and early fattening. With respect to fertility, we rather advocate 

 moderation than excess, both on account of the strength and 

 health of the mother, and the improvement of her progeny from 

 a full supply of nutriment. How long a sow should be kept for 

 breeding depends on circumstances ; generally speaking, however, 

 after three or four years the most fruitful sows, exhausted in their 

 reproductive energies, evince a great falling off both in the number 

 and vigor of their young. There are, however, exceptions, . . . 

 . 'I . . Generally speaking, it is most advantageous to allow the 

 sow to breed only two or three .years, and her successors being ready, 

 to fatten her off for the knife. 



"A leading principle in breeding this animal, and it applies equally 

 to the horse, the sheep, the ox, the dog, is to make a cautious selec- 

 tion of the male by whom the female is destined to conceive her 

 first progeny, for that male stamps a character upon every subse- 

 quent produce (whether for good or bad) by other males ; ' the sub- 

 sequent progeny of the mother will always partake more or less of 

 the character of the father of the first offspring.' This law is mys- 

 terious, but it has been abundantly proved (See Giles, in Philoso- 

 phical Transactions for 1821,) and need not be here further insisted 

 on ; the fact is established." The selection of the male, then, is of 

 primary importance ; of whatever breed he may be, he should be 

 as perfect as possible in the good qualities of his race ; he should be 

 free from all blemishes, and be, moreover, the offspring of parents 

 in all points unexceptionable. A young boar intended for breeding 

 from, should be kept separate from the sows until about a year old, 

 when his physical energies will be fairly developed. Forrc is of 

 more importance than size; in this latter respect the breeds differ, 

 as they do also in the size of the ears, which in some breeds are 



