760 CATTLE AND DAIKY FARMING. 



WEIGHTS OF SHEEP. 



As furnishing a very complete record of the age and weight of sheep of different 

 classes at the Islington show and the average gain per day in pounds of the several ani- 

 mals, as also the comparative daily rate of increase in the classes for lambs and wethers 

 of the different breeds, &c., I forward (inclosure No. 6) some tables on the subject pub- 

 lished in the Mark Lane Express, of December 24, 1883. 



SHEEP AND MUTTON IN 1883. 



A paper, tinder this heading (inclosure No. 7), taken from the Live Stock Journal Al- 

 manack, furnishes a very complete list of prices at which the sheep of the various breeds 

 of the country sold in the markets during the past year. 



POETEAITS OF SHEEP. 



Inclosure No. 8 is said to furnish excellent portraits of three noted animals, to wit: 

 An Oxford Down rom, which is considered a fitting illustration of the breed; a three- 

 year-old Lincoln ram, " Hermit," and an Oxford Down ram, " Campsfield," three years 

 and five months old. 



II. BREEDS OP PIGS. 



TJie Berkshire. The Berkshire is a most extensively cultivated and a very valuable 

 breed. The animals are usually rather above the medium size. The prevailing color is 

 black and white, the white generally being on the nose, feet, and end of the tail. Some 

 are, however, almost entirely black. These differences are attributed by some writers 

 to the influence of either Chinese or Neapolitan blood with which they are allied. The 

 Berkshire pig is altogether thoroughly useful in its character, fulfilling in all points the 

 requirements of modern farming. One of its great merits is the large proportion of lean 

 meat to the fat and the distribution of fat and lean when properly fed. As a result of 

 this a given live weight realizes a larger proportion of available meat than any other 

 breed. The late Mr. William Hewes was for many years a most successful breeder of 

 Berkshires, having a favorite sow which on one occasion yielded fifteen pigs in the year, 

 the produce of two litters, for which 150 was realized, the pigs having been sold when 

 quite young at 10 each. This breed is especially adapted for bacon of excellent qual- 

 ity. 



The points of the improved Berkshire are as follows: The head is moderately long, 

 the ears somewhat projecting, butnot drooping; the skin has a slight tinge of pink; the 

 eyes are large and intelligent; the hind quarters often droop rather too muck; the legs 

 are short; the hair is abundant and indicates great hardiness of constitution. 



Mr. Joseph Saunders, of Sutton Wimborne, Dorsetshire, whose specialty is pigs, writes 

 (inclosure No. 9) recommending the Berkshire breed as the hardiest. It should be 

 noted that one of this breed took the champion prize at the last Smithfield show. At 

 the age of eight months one week three days its weight was 1C score, or 320 pounds. 



Mr. Alfred Ashworth, of Woodham, Chelmsford, bears witness (inclosure No. 10) to 

 the excellence of the Berkshire breed of pigs. As a successful exhibitor and breeder Mr. 

 Ashworth finds a ready demand for his stock for breeding purposes, a fact that may be 

 emphasized as showing the extending demand amongst farmers and others for the best 

 breeds. 



Ttic Large White or Yorkshire. This breed is cultivated principally in the counties of 

 Yorkshire, Lancaster, Lincolnshire, and Leicestershire, and it is probable that it is de- 

 scended from the old English pig. Mr. Ronaldson, in his prize essay on the breeding of 

 pigs, says: 



"There are good grounds for supposing that the old English hog with flop ears was 

 originally the only domestic animal of its kind in the Kingdom. The genuine old Eng- 

 lish breed was coarse boned, long in limb, narrow in the back, and low shouldered, a 

 form to which the animals were most probably predisposed, from the fact of their having 

 to travel far and work hard for their food, undergoing at the same time considerable pri- 

 vation during the winter." 



A great improvement has been effected in this breed by careful selection and greater 

 attention to feeding. It is said that Bakewell was the first to improve the Leicestershire 

 pigs, and this by a process similar to that which proved so successful in the case of the 



