HOC 



best inilivitluals to breed from. In 

 every litter tbere will be pigs better 

 formed tlian the sfn'rality, and by 

 careful selection of these any breed 

 maybe soon mueh improvful without 

 crossinff; but experience teaches that 

 when the sows and boars are too 

 nearly related, the fecundity grad- 

 ually diminishes ; and by continually 

 breeding from the same stock the 

 sows at last produce only two or three 

 diminutive pigs at a litter. Hence 

 the advantage of frefjuent crossing. 

 To restore fecundity no breed is so ef- 

 fectual as the Chinese. A breed com- 

 pounded of tlie Berkshire, Chinese, 

 and Neapolitan may, by careful se- 

 lection, produce every quality which 

 can be desired ; numerous litters, 

 early fatting, and fine hogs for bacon 

 at twelve or sixteen months old, are 

 th-e result of care and judicious breed- 

 ing. Fjg. 3 represents the Bedford 

 or Woburn hog. It is large, hardy, 

 and well-formed, generally white, va- 

 riously spotted, with small limbs and 

 head, and fattening rapidly. 



" The black hogs are preferred, on 

 the whole. They <ire nnicb less sub- 

 ject to diseases of the skin than the 

 white, and the sun affects them less 

 in summer. For sucking pigs or 

 porkers many prefer the white, mere- 

 ly for the appearance, for the black 

 skin is in general the finest. 



" There are some very large 

 breeds, which have been recommend- 

 ed under the idea that, in a large hog, 

 the bone and offal are less in pro- 

 portion to the flesh than in a small- 

 er. But these large breeds do not 

 come so soon to maturity. They 

 cannot be profitably put up to fatten 

 till eighteen or twenty months old, or 

 more ; and although some of them 

 may make hogs of thirty or forty 

 score when killed, they are so long 

 fatting, and require so much food, 

 that it is very doubtful whether they 

 pay for it as well as the smaller. For 

 delicate bacon, the hogs killed at a 

 twelve-month old, and weighing ten 

 or twelve score, are much preferred, 

 and we are inclined to think that they 



Fis- 3. 



are most profitable. When hams are 

 the principal object, the hogs should 

 be killed before they are so fat as 

 they might be ; and the carcass is 

 then cut up and pickled, instead of 

 being converted into dry bacon. To 

 keep hogs profitably, a regular system 

 should be pursued both in the breed- 

 mg and feeding. Proper hog-sties 

 should be constructed with chambers, 

 in which the pigs of different ages 

 and the breeding sows may be kept 

 separate. The food should be pre- 

 pared for them by boiling or steam- 

 ing in an apparatus conveniently pla- 

 ced, and the greatest cleanliness and 

 regularity should be maintained. It 

 Is a great mistake to suppose that the 



hog loves dirt. If he can keep him- 

 self clean he will do so ; and the wal- 

 lowing in the mud is not from a love 

 of dirt, but from a heat and itching in 

 the skin in warm weather, which is 

 relieved by rolling in the cool mud 

 If hogs have plenty of clean straw 

 and clean water they never will be 

 dirty, and nothing makes them thrive 

 so quick or pleases them more than 

 being washed and curried regularly. 

 If the hogs are not closely confined, 

 they will always lay their dung at a 

 distance from the place where they 

 sleep or feed, and in all well-construct- 

 ed sties there should be a small yard 

 to each apartment in which the hogs 

 can deposite their dung. 



;171 



