CHAPTER LXXII 



THE ESSEX 



The native home of the Essex pig is in the county of Essex 

 in eastern England, lying just northeast of London. The land 

 is level or rolling and the climate temperate and moist. 



The early native type of Essex pig is said to have been of 

 mixed color, black and white, with white shoulders, nose, and 

 legs. It was roach-backed, flat -ribbed, had long legs, a sharp 

 head, was coarse in bone, 

 was a large feeder, and 

 had a nervous disposition. 



The improvement of the 

 Essex pig was first secured 

 by Lord Western, form- 

 erly an Essex squire, who, 

 when in Italy in 1830, 

 purchased a pair of black 

 Neapolitans, male and 

 female, and brought them 

 to England. The Nea- 

 politan was then crossed 

 upon some well-selected pigs such as were common in Essex, 

 with most satisfactory results. It is also thought that Black 

 Suffolk and Berkshire blood was used. The white coloring was 

 entirely removed and a black Essex-Neapolitan pig of improved 

 form resulted, with shorter head and legs, more quality, and 

 fattening much more readily. These improved pigs were very 

 popular for a time. They were inbred, however, at least in Lord 

 Western's hands, and became of enfeebled constitution, lacking 

 in fecundity and in size. 



The establishment of the Improved Essex breed was accom- 

 plished by Mr. Fisher Hobbes of Boxted Lodge, a tenant of 



521 



Fig. 241. An Essex boar owned by Joseph 

 Featherstone & Son of Ontario. Photograph 

 from Professor G. E. Day 



