1068 



PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part III. 



899 



900 



meat, and their culture can neveif be so miich depended on by the preneral former as that of cattle or sheep. 

 A writer in the Farmer's Magazine observes, that the swine are the only variety of granivorous animals 

 that can be fed upon the<jftal of grain, or such articles as would otherwise go to waste about a farm- 

 steading. Since the erection of threshing machines, a much greater quantity of light grain is beat from 

 the straw, than was gained when the flail was employed. To use this extra quantity to advantage becomes 

 An important concern to th^occuipiers of land ; and this writer thinks that the vising of it in raising and 

 supporting swine is by far the most profitable mode of consuming an article, which, in other respects, is 

 comparatively of little value. - uUMrAri^wvn^Vto-'I : . 



i to 4oiup bH ,9flO. . 



Sect. I. Varietus of the Common Hog.'^ vus^^t',^"^ -vA " 



7283. TJie domesticated European variety of the common hog {Ji<r. 899.) is too well 



known to require any de- 

 scription. 

 728*. T/ie Chinese hog (Jg. 900) 



is distinguished fron the common, 



by having the upper part of its 



bo'-ly almost bare, its belly hanging 



nearly to the ground ; its legs are 



very short, and its tail still more 



disproportionately short. The 



flesh of this variety is whiter 



and more delicate. The colour 



is commonly a dark grey. It 

 abounds in China, and is diffused through New Guinea, and many islands in the South Sea. The New 

 Hebrides, the Marquesas, the Friendly and the Society Islands, possess this animal, and cultivate it with 

 great care, as it is almost the only doflie&tic animal of which they can boast. The varieties of hog culti- 

 vated in Britain, are partly the result of climate and keep in the European variety, and partly the effbcts 

 of crossing with the Chinese. At the same time, it is only in particular districts that so much attention 

 has been paid to this animal, as to give rise to any accurate distinction of breeds; and nowhere has it 

 received any considerable portion of that care in breeding, which has been so advantageously employed 

 on the other animals of which we have treated. Yet, among none of the varieties of those is there so 

 great a difference as among the breeds of this species^, in regard to tlie meat they return for theconsump- 

 tion of a given quantity of food. S(nne races can with difficulty he made fat, even at an advanced age, 

 though fed from the trough with abundance of such food as would fatten any other animal ; while others 

 contrive to ra?se a valuable carcass out of materials on which no other creature could subsist. 



7285. The Chinese race, according to Culley, has been subdivided into seven varieties or more; and it 

 would be easy to point out twice the humber of as prominent distinctions among the sorts in the third 

 Class. But such an afl'ectation of accuracy is as useless as it would be tedious. One general form, 

 approaching to that of other animals kept for their carcass, ought certainly to be preferred ; and the 

 size, which is the other distinguishing characteristic, must be chosen with a view to the foml provided 

 for their maintenance, and not because it is possible to raise the individuals to a great, and probably, 

 unprofitable weight. The fineness of the bone, and the broad, though also deep, form of the chest, 

 denote in this, as in the other species, a disposition to make fat with a moderate consumption of food ; 

 atld while it may be advisable to prefer the larger breeds in those places where bacon and flitches are 

 in most demand, the smaller breeds are most esteemed for pickling, and are, beyond all doubt, most 

 profitable to those farmers who allow them little else than the range of the farm-yard and the olfals of 

 the kitchen. 



7286. The Berkshire breed I 



901 

 izjd i 



d (Jig. SOI.) is distinguished by being in general of a tawny, white, or reddish 

 .'-7(iV:iC \! X^ colour ; Spotted with blark; large ears hanging over the eyes; 

 thick, close, and well made in tlie body ; legs short ; small in 

 the bone; having a disposition to fatten quickly; and when 

 well fed, the flesh is fine. Berkshire lias bedn long famous for 

 its breed of swine, which, as it now stands, is, in the third 

 class, in point of size, excellent in all respects, but particularly 

 as a cross for heavy, slow-feeding sortS; It has extended itself 

 from the district from which it takes its name over most parts 

 of the island; is the sort mostly fattened at the distilleries ; 

 feeds to a great weight ; is good for either pork or bacon ; and 

 is supposed by many as the most hardy, both in respect to their 

 nature and the food on which they are fed. 



7i.'87. The Hanrpshire breed {fig. 902.) are large, longer in the 



body and neck, but not of so compact a form as the Berksli ire ; 



they are mostlv of a white colour, or spotted, and are well disposed to fatten, coming up to a great weight 



4*|iw>ft1perty "managed in respect^o food. Lawrence says they are generally dark spotted, some black, of 



QQ9 a longer and flatter make than those of Berks, ears more pointed, 



tri'Oiio-trt V- > - - t^-^^-^ head long and sharp, resembling the Essex. 



^"""""' 7288. The' Shropshire breed is another large breed of hogs, which 



are found valuable where the keep is in sufficient abundance for 

 81 iiHWil' jmi'iBWI'lll' WM I ' I II their support. They are not so well formed as those of the Berk- 

 shire kind, or equal to them in their disposition to fatten, or to be 

 supported on such cheap food. The standard colour of this breed is 

 white, or hrindleil : Shropshire has long bred stores for the supply of 

 the London feeders, and of the Essex farmers, who thus turn their 

 clovers to the most profitable account. 



7289. The Gloucestershire breed is likewise a larger breed, hut In. 

 ferior to either of the above, being tall and long in shape, and by no 

 rneans so well formed The colour is in general while. It has two wattles hanging from the throat. 

 72fJ<) The Herefordshire breed {fig. 903.) is also a large useful breed, but perhaps without possessing any 

 <)/y> advantage over those that have been described above. 



^^'^ 7291. The Nitdgivick breed is a large kind of swine, which the au- 



thor of the STirvei/ of Middlesex says is the largest in the island, 

 met with at the village of that name, on the borders of Sussex and 

 Surrey. They feed to an extraordinary size, and weigh, at two 

 years old, nearlv double or triple the usual weight of other sorts of 

 hogs of that age'. As large breeds pay the farmers best in many cases, 

 such a breed deserves to be attended to in the system of hog ma- 

 nagement 

 7292. The large spotted Woburn breed is a breed introduced by the 



late Duke of "^ - .-=_-> =_ .= .^a *:.., ^i^.**. 



_ ^!isi..iiii -Itiie^a-hanl, 

 ei9fwo n'riJ %eight' 



targe spottea yvoown oreea is a oreeo mironucea oy ine 

 >f Bedford, being large in size and of various coloui*; 

 1, %vell formed, ptdhfic Spirt, rising ^tj^l^ t^ '| l^J^e 



