Report on Butter, Cheese, Provisions, ^^c., at Kilhurn. 677 
of houses in Waterford, Cork, Limerick and Hamburg) are sold every week ; 
whilst for sides of the cut and cure in sections numbered 2 and ?> there is, 
comparatively, but a local demand ; it was therefore, in our opinion, not 
judicious to have placed all these descriptions in one section for competition. 
There is but a small demand in London for bacon such as was represented 
in No. 2 section, and at rates considerably below those paid for such as in 
No. 1 section ; whilst for bacon, such as No. 3 section, we have little hesitation 
in saying that in the London market it would not fetch 30s. per cwt., as in 
Staffordsbire cut bacon the lean of the back is usually cut away ; and in the 
sample presented to us the sides were enormously fat. 
As, then, the most important portion of the bacon trade of this country is 
centred in the Wiltshire cut singed bacon, we think it right to say that the 
great desideratum is that farmers should aim at producing hogs suitable for 
this branch of the trade, and for this is required a breed of hogs with lean 
backs and fat bellies. 
The amount of money lost to the farming interest annually by the pro- 
duction of over-fat pigs is beyond computation, for the great bulk of the 
population will not use fat bacon unless at prices varying, according to cir- 
cumstances, from 10s. to 14s. per cwt. under the prices obtained for bacon the 
produce of lean-backed pigs ; and the weight of such that brings the highest 
price for producing bacon of the Classes No. 356 and 358 ranges from 1 cwt. 
1 ij[r. 7 lbs. to 1 cwt. 2 qrs. 7 lbs. per pig. 
KiCHARD H. THOMPSOy. 
Jul. Kleiswort. 
The Judges here question the propriety of bringing into com- 
petition the full or Wiltshire cut with, for example, the Cumber- 
land or three-quarter cut ; but I am inclined to think that the 
work of the Society would be too elaborate and detailed on this 
occasion if they gave prizes for all sorts and classes of bacon. 
The opinion of the Judges was possibly modified when, after 
the adjudication, it was found that their awards had given 
general satisfaction. 
In the Report of Messrs. Thompson and Kleinwort there is 
one point which demands the most serious consideration ; and 
that is, where they refer to the sort of pig which would pay the 
farmer best. When those gentlemen had completed their 
awards, I invited them to accompany me to the swine classes of 
the Show, in the hope of being able to elicit some ideas which 
might be useful to myself and to others, whom I could influence, 
in the breeding of pigs. We examined the pigs with care ; and 
it was remarkable how their ideas and those of the leading pig- 
breeders differ as to the "points" which a good pig should 
possess. 
Over and over again the same view had been previously forced 
on my attention in Ireland. As a rule, pigs are bred with little 
or no attention to what is required by the bacon-curer and con- 
sumer. Now, bacon of the highest quality is made from pigs 
of moderate size, on the backs of which there is not more than 
two "fingers" of fat. To most of the prize pigs Messrs. 
Thompson and Kleinwort objected. It may be said that they 
