

Bti.4 



Essex sow, a prize wrnner at Toronto Industrial Exhibition, owned by 

 Jos. Featherstone, Ontario, Canada. A sow very typical of the breed, being 

 exceptionally smooth and possessed of unusual quality. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE ESSEX SWINE 



^HIS BREED of swine originated in the county of Essex, England, and from this 

 it takes its name. London, writing in 1825, described the old Essex as being 

 " up-eared with long, sharp head, roach back; flat, long carcass and long in the legs." 

 They were improved by Lord Weston who, in 1830, purchased in Italy a Neapolitan 

 boar and two sows and these were crossed on the native Essex. Extreme refinement 

 resulted with loss of size, constitution and fecundity, but through the after work of 

 Fisher Hobbs these defects have been largely overcome. Some authorities (Long) 

 claim that the black Suffolk pig bred in England at the present time is but an im- 

 proved Essex; others ( Coleman) assert that the Suffolk is a distinct breed. However, 

 the two now are recognized as separatetoreeds. According to the standard agreed upon 

 by the American association, the characteristics of the Essex are as follows: "(Dolor, 

 black without any white whatever; face short and dishing; ears small, soft and 

 standing erect while young but drooping slightly with increasing age; carcass long, 

 broad, straight and deep; hams heavy and well let down; bone fine; hair ordinarily 

 rather thin, fattening qualities very superior. The type of the Essex represents a 

 very compact hog of fine quality and very stoutly built; a type which is considered 

 to mature early and fatten easily. See official scale of points, page 170. 



