BREEDING. 159 



paratively speaking, it is only within a few years that the improved 

 breeds of pigs have risen up to reward the skill of the breeder. The 

 Chinese or Siamese, the Neapolitan, and the African varieties have 

 greatly contributed to their creation, and continue to modify those 

 in which a farther cross is desirable. After one or two crosses^ the 

 best progeny is generally selected to inter-breed again with the ori- 

 ginal stock, and thus is its improvement effected. Among the nu- 

 merous admirable breeds which now exist, it would be difficult to 

 say which has the superiority, or which it is most profitable and 

 advantageous to rear. As in the case of cattle and sheep, much 

 depends on contingent circumstance!?, on locality, and the kind of 

 food most readily obtainable. No doubt each breeder prefers his 

 own strain. Berkshire and Essex boast of their respective races ; 

 Yorkshire, Suffolk, Sussex, and Bedfordshire put in their claims for 

 praise." 



" The following rules for the selection of the best stock of hogs 

 will apply to all breeds : 



"Fertility. The strain from which the farmer or breeder selects 

 ought to be noted for fertility. In a breeding sow this quality is 

 essential, and it is one which is inherited. The same observation 

 applies to other domestic animals. But besides this, she should be 

 a careful mother, and with a sufficient number of dugs for a family 

 of twelve at a single litter. A young untried sow will generally 

 display in her tendencies those which have predominated in the race 

 from which she has descended, and the number of teats can be 

 counted. Both boar and sow should be sound, healthy, and in fair 

 but not over fat condition, and the former should be from, a stock in 

 which fertility is a characteristic. 



" Form. It may be that the farmer has a breed which he wishes to 

 perpetuate ; it is highly improved, and he sees no reason for imme- 

 diate crossing. But, on the other hand, he may have an excellent 

 breed, with certain defects, as too long in the limb, or too heavy in 

 the bone. Here, we should say, the sire to be chosen, whether 

 of a pure or cross breed, should exhibit the opposite qualities, evert 

 to an extreme, and be, withal, one of a strain noted for early and 

 rapid fattening. 



" But what is meant by /orm, as applied to a pig ? A development 

 of those points connected with the profit of the owner. In these 

 points high or low blood is demonstrated. The head should be small, 

 high at the forehead, short and sharp in the snout, with eyes ani 

 mated and lively, and thin, sharp, upright ears ; the jowl, or cheek, 

 should be deep and full ; the neck should be thick and deep, arch 

 gracefully from the back of the head, and merge gradually into a 

 broad breast ; the shoulders should be set well apart at the clavicu 

 lar joint; the body should be deep, round, well-barrelled, with an 

 ample chest, broad loins, and a straight, flat, broad back ; the tail 



