14 
THE HOG. 
SIAMESE BREED. 
rous centuries, the Chinese people have been the slaves of etiquette and form. They have formed an empire, hut one in which the 
human mind has been doomed to stationary bondage. 
The Hogs of China which have been introduced into England, are too delicate and sensible of cold to be of much economical 
value. The breed, therefore, is rarely maintained in its state of purity. It is chiefly by intermixture with the native races that 
its value is recognised, and it is in this respect that the introduction of the Chinese breed into England has been attended with 
beneficial results. 
The fault of the old Swine of England was their coarseness of form, and their consequent inability to arrive at early maturity 
of muscle and fat. The mixture of the Asiatic blood has everywhere tended to correct this defect; though, at the same time, it 
has lessened the size of the native races, and perhaps their power to produce numerous young. 
A question of economical importance is, how far it is expedient to continue the introduction of Asiatic Swine into England. 
It is conceived that this admixture has been carried to the full degree consistent with the interests of producers and consumers. 
We have now formed varieties superior to the Asiatic races in size, and equal to them in the power of fattening at an early age. 
We have merely to continue to breed from the best of the mixed progeny which we have obtained. In this manner, we can cer¬ 
tainly, by the application of the common principles of selection of the breeding parents, procure pigs suited to the purposes re¬ 
quired, equally removed from the too small size of the Asiatic kinds, and the too great coarseness of the indigenous breeds. 
The flesh of these eastern Hogs is peculiarly tender and good, but it is suited for pork for the table rather than for bacon. 
The pure race communicates the quality of its pork to its mixed descendants; and it is this transmitted character, even more than 
the aptitude to fatten, which has induced so general an infusion of the Siamese blood into the races of this country. 
