20 THE ' NEW PIG 



can be made, and whose legs are perfect for hams, has 

 been found almost beyond the resources of art. Even 

 Mr. Saunders Spencer admits that to adumbrate the 

 proportions of the ' perfect pig ' is beyond the scope of 

 his imagination, and to hope to produce one in the 

 concrete is to strive after the unattainable. The 

 omission of all the half-acre plots from the Agricultural 

 Returns casts a slur on a very highly esteemed and 

 numerous class, the ' backyard ' pigs. There are, it is 

 believed, more pigs kept in cottage-gardens and back- 

 yards in the North than in farms. But after making 

 every allowance for omissions, the United Kingdom 

 makes a poor figure compared with the United States. 

 One year with another, we rear three million pigs. In 

 the maize-growing States of the Union the present 

 number is estimated at forty millions, and this is 

 thirteen millions less than the highest figure reached 

 by the pig population of the States. The number 

 of pigs kept by the colliers and artisans of the North 

 fluctuates with the price of coal and yarn. In good 

 times every collier keeps a live animal of some sort, 

 and, though dogs, guinea-pigs, cage-birds, and homing- 

 pigeons are attractive, his ' fancy animal ' is usually a 

 pig. He admires this on Sunday afternoons, and 

 groups of friends go round to smoke their pipes and 

 compare pigs, and bet on their ultimate weight. They 

 have private pig-shows, with subscription prizes. Each 



