352 JUDGING SWINE 



The hindquarters are full, plump and extend well down to 

 the hocks. The quality of the breed is very good, although 

 the carcass contains too much fat and therefore is not in 

 special market demand. Pigs from this breed are used 

 often for roasting purposes. The chief objections to them 

 are the small size, excessive amount of fat and rather slow 

 maturing qualities. Information is of interest more from 

 an authoritative than from a practical standpoint. 



Essex. The Essex breed of swine has never become 

 popular primarily because of its small size. It is reasonably 

 early maturing and from this standpoint is acceptable, 

 although it is not an economical producer of pork. It ranks 

 among the smallest of the breeds. The breed color is solid 

 black, without exception. The body is rather cylindrical 

 in form, having reasonably good length and depth of body. 

 The head is short and broad, the face slightly dished, the 

 ears small and usually erect, the neck short and compact, 

 the back slightly arched, the sides smooth and the quarters 

 and thighs very well developed. The quality ranks well, 

 the bone being of medium size and fine texture. The 

 hair is usually fine, straight, smooth, and uniformly dis- 

 tributed over the body. The shoulders are smooth and 

 compact, the jowl trim, neat and closely carried. The breed 

 is not adapted to productive swine husbandry, at least on a 

 large scale. The chief objection is in the size and weight 

 attained. This breed represents one of the extreme fat 

 types of English production, the origin being in the county 

 of Essex. 



Victoria. The Victoria breed is of two types, one originat- 

 ing in Indiana and the other in New York. The former is 

 the result of crossing several of the leading breeds already 

 discussed, principally the Poland-China, Berkshire, Chester 

 White, and Suffolk. It belongs to the fat-hog type, although 

 it is not popular or widely disseminated. The size of the 

 Victoria ranges from 400 to 550 pounds at maturity. The 

 breed is characterized by a solid white color. The body is 

 broad, comparatively deep and long. The head is broad 

 and the face moderately dished. The ears are medium in 

 size and semierect, although they are inclined sometimes to 



