58 



sheep and even poultry. Some of our best farmers either 

 breed from indifferent animals, or purchase pigs from droves, 

 and not only the number but the quality of the hogs of Essex 

 is falling off. Our shows are not now graced by such imperial 

 hogs as that which was once exhibited by Mr. John Alley, 3d, 

 of Lynn, weighing some 1200 pounds, neither do we enjoy 

 succulent young porkers at our annual repasts. Kerosene has 

 superseded lard-oil, or it might be thought that Essex county 

 farmers are making light of their hog-crop. 



THE AWARDS. 



Your committee, having made the above review of the his- 

 torv and of the present condition of the hogs in the county, 

 decided that as " like will produce like," the pedigrees of the 

 masculine competitors for the Society's premiums must be care- 

 fully scrutinized. While our Puritan ancestors wisely abjured 

 a hereditary aristocracy, and the rights of primogeniture, the 

 quadruped race is not inspired by that adherence to democratic 

 equality which despises ancestry. Occasionally the economist 

 may find some good pigs among the progeny of a runt, whose 

 only recommendation is the small sum charged for his service, 

 but in such a lottery there are many blanks to one prize. 



Moses Colman's Suffolk boar, thirteen months old, with a 

 pure pedigree, maintained the porcine reputation of Byfield. 

 He was a symmetrical animal, with a small well set head, round 

 body, straight back, broad loins, evidently small bones, and a 

 healthy looking skin. Your committee were unanimous in 

 awarding Mr. Colman the first premium of $8, and they hope 

 that his boar, having thus been made the recipient of the high- 

 est honor to which a hog can aspire, may be useful in his day 

 and generation, and pass the evening of 



" his life in peace, 



And accumulate mtich grease. 

 Eating corn — eating corn." 



Joseph Longfellow of Newbury exiiibited a Columbia coun- 

 ty boar, eleven months old, which had a well set head, long 



