Page:The Hog.djvu/161

159 speaking, it is only within a few years that the improved breeds of pigs have risen up to reward the skill of the breeder. The Chinese or Siamese, the Neapolitan, and the African varieties have greatly contributed to their creation, and continue to modify those in which a farther cross is desirable. After one or two crosses, the best progeny is generally selected to inter-breed again with the original stock, and thus is its improvement effected. Among the numerous admirable breeds which now exist, it would be difficult to say which has the superiority, or which it is most profitable and advantageous to rear. As in the case of cattle and sheep, much depends on contingent circumstances, on locality, and the kind of food most readily obtainable. No doubt each breeder prefers his own strain. Berkshire and Essex boast of their respective races; Yorkshire, Suffolk, Sussex, and Bedfordshire put in their claims for praise."

"The following rules for the selection of the best stock of hogs will apply to all breeds:—

"Fertility.—The strain from which the farmer or breeder selects ought to be noted for fertility. In a breeding sow this quality is essential, and it is one which is inherited. The same observation applies to other domestic animals. But besides this, she should be a careful mother, and with a sufficient number of dugs for a family of twelve at a single litter. A young untried sow will generally display in her tendencies those which have predominated in the race from which she has descended, and the number of teats can be counted. Both boar and sow should be sound, healthy, and in fair but not over fat condition, and the former should be from, a stock in which fertility is a characteristic.

"Form.—It may be that the farmer has a breed which he wishes to perpetuate; it is highly improved, and he sees no reason for immediate crossing. But, on the other hand, he may have an excellent breed, with certain defects, as too long in the limb, or too heavy in the bone. Here, we should say, the sire to be chosen, whether of a pure or cross breed, should exhibit the opposite qualities, even to an extreme, and be, withal, one of a strain noted for early and rapid fattening.

"But what is meant by form, as applied to a pig? A development of those points connected with the profit of the owner. In these points high or low blood is demonstrated. The head should be small, high at the forehead, short and sharp in the snout, with eyes animated and lively, and thin, sharp, upright ears; the jowl, or cheek, should be deep and full; the neck should be thick and deep, arch gracefully from the back of the head, and merge gradually into a broad breast; the shoulders should be set well apart at the clavicular joint; the body should be deep, round, well-barrelled, with an ample chest, broad loins, and a straight, flat, broad back; the tail