64 
THE BREEDING AND FEEDING OF PIGS. 
Suggestions have been made in certain quarters, arising 
probably from the higher prices ruling until the last two or 
three months, and also from the greater demand for home- 
grown products, that the breeding and feeding of pigs in Great 
Britain is becoming a declining industry. A study of the 
Returns of the Board of Agriculture, if carried over a sufficient 
period to allow of a judgment to be formed, by no means 
supports this conclusion. It is a matter of common knowledge 
that the stock of pigs often varies from year to year, but, if we 
look back over the last ten years, the figures do not show any 
very great variation from the average stock of a little under 
two-and-a-half millions in Great Britain. What change there 
is in the latest figures for 1907 is indeed in the right direction, 
for the 2,637,000 pigs shown in the returns made last June are 
above the average of the five preceding years, 1902-6, which 
gives only 2,519,000, and still more above average of 2,396,000, 
which was shown for 1897-1901. 
If, therefore, this part of the farmer’s business has not 
progressed in quantity to the extent that would appear to be 
the case in some other countries, such as Germany, it has at 
least held its own and a little more, in the face of the huge 
imports of pig meat received from Denmark and America. 
Moreover, since one of the largest bacon curing firms were 
able last year to discontinue the system of “docking” for 
overfat pigs, owing, as they stated in their circular, to the much 
improved class of pigs now bred in this country, I think we 
may take it that the above remarks would also hold good so far 
as the quality of the produce of the British pig is concerned. 
The question that naturally arises is, could more pigs be 
kept in a general way, at a profit ? Before answering this, 
a glance at the distribution of this two-and-a-half millions of 
pigs amongst the counties of England, Wales, and Scotland as 
set out in the tabulated Agricultural Returns for 1907, ' will 
show a very extraordinary differ'ence in the number kept in 
each county. Only two English counties returned as many 
as 100,000 pigs in 1906, but as many as seven passed that limit 
in 1907 ; and it may be convenient to show what has been 
the recent movement of pig stock of these seven counties in 
the last two years, compared with the average annual stock 
* See County Tables, page 276 of this Journal. 
