CHAPTER XIV. 

 THE ESSEX BREED. 



Description. — The Essex belongs to the small breeds, being 

 decidedly smaller than such breeds as the Berkshire or Poland- 

 China. The snout is short, the face slightly dished, the fore- 

 head broad, and the ears small, fine, and erect, but inclined 

 to droop slightly with age. The jowl is heavy, the neck very- 

 short, the back broad, and the shoulders and hams largely 

 developed. The legs are very short, and the bone fine, and the 

 pig as a whole is compact, smooth, 'short, thick, and chunky. 



The color is all black, no white being admissible. (Fig. 33.) 



Origin and History. — The Essex is an English breed and 

 takes its name from the county of Essex, where it was first 

 known. The original Essex pig was a coarse, long-legged, hard- 

 feeding animal, generally black and white in color. In 1830 

 Lord Western imported black ISTeapolitan pigs from Italy and 

 crossed them with the Essex, effecting a very marked improve- 

 ment. It is claimed that in the course of time Lord Western's 

 pigs became somewhat weak in constitution and lacking in 

 fecundity. 



Soon after Lord Western commenced improving the Essex 

 pigs, one of his tenants, named Fisher Hobbes, commenced 

 breeding the Essex-lSTeapolitan, and evolved a strain superior 

 to the pigs bred by Lord Western. The strain bred by Hobbes 

 gained the name of Improved Essex, and acquired great popu- 

 larity. The Improved Essex was imported into the United 

 States in large numbers at one time, but importations have 

 practically ceased. 



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