1864 .] 
AMERICAN ACRICITRTURTST. 
41 
Notes on Various Kinds of Hogs. 
Prominent among those animals to which, 
as agriculturists, we must accord a very high 
economical importance, is the Hog. He holds 
an honored place in every civilized community 
so soon as he is' dead, though while living, he is 
stigmatized as the very type of' uncleanliness, 
aud surrounded with disgusting associations. 
The Mohammedan and .Tew are polluted l>y his 
touch, so that a leg of bacon is a more formida¬ 
ble weapon against au Israelite, than a “sprig 
ot stiilialah.” Nevertheless, there are pig-wor¬ 
shippers among the South Sea Islanders, and 
certainly pork has its devotees in this country— 
as witness the thousands of pork packers and 
dealers in our great Western cities, who “by 
this craft have their wealth.” Scientifically, the 
hog belongs to the species scrofa , of the genus 
S/us, of the sub-order Suidce, (which names are 
much like those of our Welch friend, Mr. Evan 
Evans Ap-Evans, for they all mean nearly the 
same thing.) The animals of the Hog kind, are 
of the natural order Pachydermata (thick-hided), 
in which we also find the elephant, rhinoceros, 
hippopotamus, tapir, and peccary, between 
these and the hog there are marked points of 
resemblance—-in their heavy build, sluggish 
motions, short necks, peculiar snouts, and wal¬ 
lowing habits. The same order includes the 
horse, ass, and zebra; between these and those 
‘ust mentioned, the resemblance is not so close, 
but all farmers must have noticed a similarity 
in the structure of the teeth and their arrange¬ 
ment in the jaws. It is an interesting fact also, 
I rat there exists a breed of solid-hoofed hogs. 
Fig. 1— THE WILD BOAR. 
The hog is generally regarded as one of the 
most stupid animals, but really he is entitled to a 
place among the most intelligent. The muscular 
power alone of the wild boar would not ren¬ 
der him so formidable an adversary, were it not 
used with surprising discrimination. The sow 
in defense of her young, is a terrible fighter, and 
a most cunning strategist, as every one familiar 
with the half-wild swine of our Southern 
States very well knows. The statement that 
this animal has a scent as acute as that of a set¬ 
ter or pointer dog, will hardly be credited. Yet 
it is a matter of history that, with very little la¬ 
bor, an English sportsman actually trained a 
young sow to point game, and used her in hunt¬ 
ing for years thereafter, sometimes alone, and 
sometimes in company with dogs. Swine are 
found among almost all nations and tribes of 
men in the old world, in temperate and torrid 
Fig. 2—JAPANESE SWINE .—Sketched and 
latitudes, and have been used as food since the 
earliest historic times. Like other domestic 
animals which are thus widely disseminated, this 
species {Sus scrofa) exhibits many distinct varie¬ 
ties, and numerous more or less peculiar breeds 
—the result of the modifying influences to which 
they have been subjected in the course of ages. 
The wild boar of which we present a spirited 
engraving, is doubtless the progenitor of all the 
breeds of European swine, 
modified somewhat by im¬ 
portations of Asiatic (parti¬ 
cularly Chinese) blood; and 
from these the various 
breeds in North, Central, 
aud South An erica are de¬ 
rived. The w d boar still 
exists in cert. in parts of 
Europe and J. ia, and his 
flesh is not u. common in 
the markets <.'. the cities 
of Central Ei . ope, during 
the autumn. The aim of 
breeders, and the effects 
of domcsticatr. a, perhaps, 
have been to reduce the 
size of the lead, neck, 
shoulders, and aony parts, 
generally, and ’,o increase 
the size of the hams, the 
breadth of the loin, to de¬ 
crease the size and weight 
of the bones and all the less profitable parts, 
aud to change to a great extent the appearance 
and general character of the animal. This is 
strikingly shown in the figure of the Chester 
County (Pa.) white hog, herewith presented. 
It would be very interesting, and instructive 
too, could we learn with what aim the hog has 
been bred in Japan. The engraving given 
above is a portrait of one of a pair of Japan¬ 
ese swine now in this city. They seem re¬ 
markable only for the immense development of 
skin and souse. Their hides lie in massive folds, 
like the skin of the rhinoceros; and their pen¬ 
dulous ears are fairly elephantine. Their faces 
are crowded with coarse irregular wrinkles, 
giving them great breadth, and a very peculiar 
expression. They are said to feed freely, but 
never to fatten sufficiently to take out the reefs 
in their hides. They are of a dingy drab color, 
engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
sparsely covered with black bristles, and have 
long straight tails. With these peculiarities, the 
breed has, in our judgment, no good point. 
The engraving of the Chester County hog is 
introduced in comparison, because it shows so 
well the results of breeding with a constant 
view to flesh, fat, and smallness of offal. We 
are often asked the question, “ Do you consider 
the Chester County Whites a fixed breed ?”—or 
n the best breed ?”—or, “ Is there any better 
breed?” Hogs of similar shape to’the Chester 
County Whites, are common throughout a con¬ 
siderable region, including parts of New-Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware. What 
their origin is, no one knows exactly. They are 
of all colors, but yellow or tan-color with some 
black, is very common. It is said, however, that 
man}' years ago, an “imported Bedfordshire 
boar” was crossed with the common sows of 
Chester County, Pa., and thus originated the va¬ 
riety, which has since been bred with great 
care to improve its good points, and breed out 
all traces of black and yellow in the animals. 
There is no such recognized breed as the Bed¬ 
fordshire, and many of the animals sold as Ches¬ 
ter Co. Whites, breed black and yellow-spotted 
pigs. It is probable, therefore, that the demand 
Fig. 3— CHESTER COUNTY HOG. 
for Chester Co. Whites has been so great., that 
fraud has been practised in some cases. Where 
genuine animals can be obtained, the cross upon 
inferior swine is very beneficial, as they are 
