ch. xiv PIGS, CATTLE, OSTRICHES 131 



local demand exceeds the supply, but an export trade 

 is in the near future assured, and both the factory itself 

 and also pig-breeders are preparing for this end by the 

 production of pigs of a type which will cause British 

 East Africa bacon to be hall-marked. When the 

 industry first started and the factory was erected, the 

 company, in order to encourage the enterprise, agreed 

 to and did accept at a fixed price every pig that was 

 brought to them. The result was bacon of an inferior 

 or indifferent stamp. So long as the local market only 

 was catered for, this was comparatively immaterial, but 

 the moment that export was contemplated it was rightly 

 decided either to refuse pigs of inferior stamp or to grade 

 the price. Farmers have naturally been rather indignant 

 at finding themselves with a quantity of unsaleable or 

 unremunerative animals on their hands, and indeed the 

 company would have been better advised to decide 

 and advertise their policy at an earlier date. Still, 

 the inconvenience is merely temporary, and there can 

 be little doubt as to the correctness of the present 

 policy. 



The pigs known favourably in the country are 

 the Large Black, the Berkshire, the Large White 

 Yorkshire, the Tamworth, and the Middle White 

 Yorkshire. Possibly their popularity comes in the 

 order I have stated. Mr. E. J. Prosser, the well- 

 known expert, for some time resident in the Pro- 

 tectorate, states that the best cross for the country is 

 formed by crossing a Berkshire sow with a Large 

 White Yorkshire. Other practical farmers dissent, 

 pointing out that Berkshires notoriously give small 

 litters, and also that any white pig is more susceptible 

 to the heat than his black brother. Large Blacks, 

 either as sows or boars, are proving very popular. A 



k 2 



