538 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. {1 Dzc., 1899. 
“ Marxerine.—The present system of selling pigs will, I think, very 
soon be put on a better footing. The old idea of selling to any pigbuyer 
who chooses to go round to the styes and make an offer is by no means 
a good one; they must make their prices average right, consequently one 
man gets the value of his pig and the other man much less. You don’t 
see woolgrowers selling their produce in this fashion; they submit their 
produce to public competition, and get market value for them. I main- 
tain that all fat pigs should be sold by auction, and by live weight, not by 
appearances. I hope ere long to see this system im vogue; a weighbridge at 
the various markets could easily be erected, and let every lot of pigs be weighed, 
their weight posted above their pens, and sold at per tb. live weight; buyers 
would then know exactly what they were buying, and the farmers would be 
more satisfied, the well-grain-fed animal would give his owner a good idea 
whether it would pay him to grain feed or not. This matter of weighing might 
well be taken in hand by the Government; let them erect weighbridges at the 
yarious trucking yards where pig sales are held, and charge a small fee of, say, 
ld. per head as a yard due. It would pay them well to consider this matter, as 
the business would be a remunerative one. I would also suggest that a qualified 
inspector attend all sales, and condemn any animal he considered unfit for 
food. 
“A pig-breeders’ association would be of great value to farmers and others, 
as there are many little matters that often crop up that require seeing into. Take, 
for instance, the trucking conveniences at the various railway trucking yards; 
they are utterly unsuitable to load a truck of pigs with; the present place and 
conveniences are enough to kill a man, say nothing about the bruising and: 
injuries the unfortunate pigs receive. The shelter and watering conveniences. 
are about as bad as they can be. An association might do a lot to remedy these ~ 
existing evils, and materially assist in building up one of the leading industries 
in South Queensland.” ‘ 
Seeing how important this industry already is, and of what great expansion it 
is capable, we propose to publish a series of articles, collated from as varied sources: 
as possible, on everything connected with pig-breeding, in the hope that a few 
evains of wheat may be found amongst the chaff, which will have the effect of 
improving our breeds, improving the treatment of pigs, decreasing their ailments, 
and improving the methods of curing bacon and Neat on the farm. And first 
we will consider 
. THE MOST PROFITABLE PIG. 
It is needless to say that authorities are not all agreed upon this point. 
Breeders have their preferences, but the crucial tests are the market and the- 
bacon factory. Hoard’s Datryman says :— 
The most profitable pig to breed this year and hereafter is, without question, 
the Tamworth. The Tamworth is the pig par excellence for the packer and 
feeder. Its length and depth of body are so pronounced that no breed of pig 
can approach it in these important respects. Its shoulder is light but deep. 
through the chest and wide between the forward legs, giving it the indispensable 
lightness of shoulder with large heart girth and great vitality. The Tamworth 
is wide behind, with strong back, and great depth through the flank, and hams: 
_ well let down; and these are points sought by the curer. 
It is well to be cautious in trying new breeds of pigs, as well as anything 
else, and to ‘“‘prove all things, and hold fast to that which is good”; but if this: 
idea were carried to an extreme, people would still be breeding the serub. More,, 
the unexampled docility of the Tamworth can be approached by no other breed. 
The Tamworth is more prepotent, has the functions of motherhood more: 
pronounced, and has greater precocity than any breeds of pigs yet brought into 
public favour. 
The following is the standard of excellence for Tamworths adopted by the- 
National Pig-breeders’ Association of Great Britain, and formulated with a view 
to the production of the highest quality of bacon :— 
Colour—Golden-red hair in a flesh-coloured skin, free from blacs.. 
