POINTS APPLICABLE TO ALL BREEDS OF SWINE 441 



weight when the animal is fat and heavy, and to insure 

 firm, free action. The feet should be proportionate and 

 neat; the pasterns strong; the legs perfectly straight and 

 well set, level with the outside of the body, with plenty 

 of fine, flat bone, fleshed well down in both fore and hind- 

 quarters; feet wide apart; loin strong, and as broad as the 

 shoulder-head, which should be compact and free from any 

 opening or looseness; the back broad all the way, straight 

 and level, not drooping too much at the rump when the 

 animal walks, and extending over the neck. Pigs are all 

 liable to arch in the back and droop at the rump when 

 standing. The underline should be parallel, and continued 

 below the jowl; the chest wide and deep; the belly full, 

 but not flabby; the quarters long and wide, and straight 

 from hip to tail; hams broad, full and deep to hocks; the 

 flank thick, full, and well let down; the ribs well sprung, 

 and sides deep; the neck thick, especially toward the 

 shoulders, and of proportionate length; the ears vary from 

 a foot long to a few inches, each breed having its own special 

 size, shape and position; the head broad between the eyes; 

 the nose long or short, according to breed; the under jaw 

 shorter than the upper; the cheeks full; the eye not too 

 small, quick, but mild; the tail stout and long, and set high, 

 but not coarse, and a tuft of long, fine hairs on its tip; the 

 body well covered all over with flesh, and of a rectangular 

 shape from all points of sight, deep and wide before and 

 behind; the skin medium in thickness, and covered with 

 a sufficient coat of characteristic hair. 



Though the points enumerated are those looked for at 

 shows, it has been most forcibly pointed out by Sanders 

 Spencer, one of the most successful breeders and exporters 

 of white pigs in England, and also by those interested in the 

 bacon-curing trade, that the most economical pig to breed, 

 and consequently the one which ought to be encouraged in 

 the show yard, should be long in the body, a good medium 

 depth in the ribs, light in the neck and forequarters, and 

 heavy and deep behind in the hams or gammon; or, as 

 A. W. Shaw, of Limerick, has tersely put it: "What is really 

 wanted, is a pig that is neat in the head, light in the neck 



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