THE PIG : TO RAISE AND USE HIM. 203 



type is the main requirement. In a really good pig, we 

 find neat neck and shoulders, round ribs, thick loins, stout 

 thighs, small head and snout, short legs, long and silky hair. 

 This type of animal should be aimed at, whether black or 

 white, thorough-bred, half-bred, or common bred pigs are 

 kept. And now that there are prospects of exporting, it is 

 well to know that the general run of bacon and hams for 

 London or other English market are got from animals 

 weighing about 1501b. to 2001b. dead weight. The curing 

 trade regard all pigs over the top weight as inferior. 



What Pig Points Mean. Neat in the head means 

 a nose neither too long nor too short, a nice, shapely keen- 

 looking face, with bright mild eyes, broad forehead, a 

 good-tempered appearance. Ears, soft and pliable ; when 

 they fall a little to the front without actually being lopped, 

 the point is good. Light neck and shoulders ; for the 

 coarser parts of a side of bacon, and those which fetch the 

 lowest price are the neck and shoulders, and the lighter 

 those parts the better the side, and the higher price it will 

 make. Deep in the ribs. Looking at this from a bacon 

 curer's point of view, a pig that is deep and round in the 

 ribs will of necessity produce a larger proportion of first 

 class bacon. Thick in the loin. A pig with heavy loin 

 has capacity for food, together with good digestion and 

 strong constitution generally. The loin is high-priced, 

 and the weight of that should be kept up. Stout in the 

 thighs. The hams are most important, and in the case of 

 pigs killed for the ham and middle (flitch) trade, the most 

 valuable of all. Long silky hair indicates strength of 

 constitution as well as lean meat. Such are conditions 

 which indicate a happy union between thriftiness and lean 

 meat, a union which suits both the curer and the producer. 



Judging the Age. As a general thing, we are 

 content to take the pig by general appearances, with 

 respect to age. But the teeth, like those of other animals, 

 help to tell the tale. The animal is born with eight teeth, 

 four corner incisors and four tusks. On the eighth or 

 tenth day second or third temporary molars appear. At 

 four weeks old four nippers appear, two in the upper and 

 two in the lower jaw. At the fifth or sixth week the 



