534 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. BOOK v. 



thick-fleshed and hardy local pig an opportunity to prove its value. It 

 is claimed for it that it is a refined type of the coarse, strong-boned, coarse- 

 haired pig common in years gone by in the Lincolnshire, Norfolk, and 

 Cambridgeshire Fens. No record appears to be available as to the general 

 system of improvement/: it may possibly have been due to the infusion 

 of Large White blood and the continued selection of the breeding pigs 

 possessing the greatest amount of style and quality. In these respects 

 there may be still some room for improvement before pigs of the breed 

 will be able to compete on equal terms with some other older breeds for 

 the purpose of improving the general breed of pigs in other districts or 

 countries ; but there is no denying the fact that for the county of Lincoln 

 with its system of farming and the in-boarding of a considerable propor- 

 tion of the horsemen, shepherds, and stockmen, the Lincolnshire White 

 Curly-Coated is wonderfully well adapted. 



There are many local breeds which are held in high repute in 

 the several districts in which they are bred, such as the Black and 

 White spotted pigs which are found in considerable numbers in 

 Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, and Oxfordshire, and which have 

 been called after the last-named county. These pigs are very hardy 

 and fairly prolific, and are much liked by the agricultural labourers 

 and cottagers to consume the garden and house waste during the 

 summer, and then to be fattened in the autumn on the corn gleaned in 

 the harvest fields. 



The Improved Dorset was a small-sized Mack pig. long in the head, 

 with a short thick carcass, and fine, pink skin, sparsely covered with 

 black hair. The Dorset matured very quickly, and furnished as great 

 a proportion of meat from a given quantity of corn as any other breed, 

 but the pork was somewhat deficient in lean meat. 



In some portions of Sussex and Wiltshire is found a black pig much 

 longer and larger than the Dorset. Its breeders claim that it is hardy, 

 prolific, and of quick growth. We have seen some very good bacon-pigs 

 from sows of this breed crossed with a Berkshire, or with a- Large White 

 boar. The cross-breds are shorter on the legs, and better sprung in the 

 ribs, whilst the pork has a greater proportion of lean meat. 



The Cambridgeshire pigs were until recently of great size, with slouch 

 ears covering their eyes, curly hair, coarse bone, and general want of 

 quality. Many of them have been much improved in quality and early 

 maturity by a cross with the Large White, without losing that robust 

 and prolific character for which they have been noted. 



Others of the local breeds, such as the Norfolk, the Leicestershire, 

 the Cheshire, have been so greatly altered and improved by crossing, 

 principally with the Large and Middle Whites, as to lose much of their 

 distinctive character. The change has also to a marked extent been 

 brought about by the demand for young fat pigs weighing from 150 to 

 250 lb., instead of those monsters weighing 600 to 700 Ib. which were 

 by no means uncommon some twenty years since. 



The Somersetshire breed (p. 537) is said to be the next suppliant for 

 fame and a herd-book all to itself. It is a pig of a well-defined type, to 



