I860.] 



THE SOUTH EEN PLANTER. 



441 



canno", forbear to repeat, that the characters of 

 the President, Directors, General Agents, Super- 

 intendent and Corporators are such as to give 

 ample assurance of the most satisfactory and 

 faithful falfilment of tlie obligations they have 

 assumed in their relation to the South and to 

 bespeak for the company the manifestation on 

 the part of Virginia at least, a .full sense of re- 

 ciprocal obligation in her relation to them. 



Hogs— Different Breeds. 



Our opinion has lately been so often asked in 

 relation to the breeds of swine best adapted to 

 the wants of the farmer, that Ave have concluded 

 to answer through the columns of the "Plan- 

 ter," and thereby avoid the necessity of writing 

 many letters. A good judge of swine, said in 

 a letter published sometime ago in one of our 

 agricultural exchanges, that the best form a 

 hog could have to indicate a profitable carcass, 

 would "closely resemble a round log, with four 

 pins stuck in it to represent the legs, with a 

 small head and tail added to it." This would 

 Undoubtedly prove a good model, and might 

 boast of as good hams as some of the "hickory 

 hams " of which everybody has hoard that have 

 occasionally " been sent down South " in com- 

 pany with " wooden nutmegs " and saw-dust 

 cayenne pepper. 



The right kind of a hog for anybody to raise 

 is one having a small head, a long round body, 

 short legs, wide across the shoulders, deep 

 through the chest, with a full round ham and 

 broad back. It is important to avoid in Breed- 

 ing Sows a very dished face, (which makes the 

 head and countenance look very much like that 

 of the bull dog,) as they are when thus marked, 

 almost invariably bad nurses and deficient in 

 instinct. 



There are several breeds of "improved hogs," 

 all of which are good, when carefully bred; i. 

 e., when only the best of the pigs in a litter are 

 turned out for breeders. Any breed will rapidly 

 deteriorate if care is not taken in selecting breeders. 



The Chester County Hog is the favorite breed 

 of all those who desire great size. 



They are unequalled, we think, for producing 

 large meat (" middlings" particularly) for farm 

 laborors; but they are not well suited for "fam-i 

 ily bacon." The only objection we have to! 

 them is, that the sows are white, and generally | 

 too large. This, however, is regarded by many! 

 only as a matter of taste, for white hogs are 

 usually more popular than black. 



We prefer black hogs, only because they are 

 not at all liable to " mange," while white hogs 

 will have it^ unless very great care is taken to 

 prevent it. 



As a mere item of beauty, a white or spotted 

 color is certainly desirable; but the blackest 

 hog is usually black only through the scarf skin, 

 which pulls off when scalded. We have never 

 seen a black hog suffering with mange, nor have 

 we ever owned a white one that failed to have 

 it. For this reason our individual preference 

 is given to the "Improved Berkshire, the Skin- 

 ner or Neapolitan, and the Essex breeds." 



The Suffolks are beautiful animals, of hand- 

 some proportions, with a great tendency to take 

 on fat — very thin hair, and a scarf skin so deli- 

 cate as to be easily peeled off by the sun. For 

 our own use we would prefer any of the other 

 breeds named. 



The Black Berkshire^ when well bred, we re- 

 gard as the most beautiful of all hogs, and it 

 must have been one of this breed who formed 

 the subject of the old song, "There was a lady 

 loved a swine," &c. 



We have heard butchers object to them as 

 opening badly when slaughtered, and that the 

 intestinal fat had a peculiar blue color. Of the 

 truth of the assertion we know nothing. They 

 are easily fattened, and are quiet and thiifty in 

 their habits. This may be true of all the im- 

 proved breeds, except the Chester — of which, the 

 thorough-bred are unquestionably the best. 



The " Skinners " were very common in the 

 vicinity of Richmond some twelve or fifteen 

 years ago, but have almost entirely disappeared. 

 They were, in fact, the Neapolitan^ and took their 

 name in Virginia and Maryland from the late 

 John S. Skinner, who first introduced them, and 

 who was a first rate judge as well as an ardent 

 admirer of every kind of blooded stock. 



The Essex have sprung from a cross of the 

 Neapolitan with the Black Berkshire, it is said. 

 They have inherited the thin hair and coal black 

 skin of the Neapolitan, and by judicious breed- 

 ing have gained from the Berkshire a rounder 

 carcass and ham, with earlier maturity. We re- 

 gard them as chiefly valuable for crossing with 

 larger and coarser-boned stock, and have found 

 the cross with the Chesters good one, while one 

 or two crosses, which we have tried with the 

 Berkshire, disappointed us — the produce having 

 as a general thing the characteristic marks of 

 the Essex, with small bones, without any in- 

 crease of size. The Suffolk and Essex hogs are 

 perhaps smaller than any other of the improved 



