Page:The Hog.djvu/94

92 Buxton. It was white, and two years and two months old. Its height was 3 feet 9 inches, the carcass when dressed weighed 660 pounds, exclusive of fat to the amount of 98 pounds. It was fattened upon Indian meal, pea-meal, &c. It was of the improved old Cheshire breed.

In taking a survey of our improved breeds, we can do little more than generalize, although a few breeds may require a somewhat particular notice; we mean those to which other strains owe their improvement.

Among the early improvers of swine must be enumerated Mr. Bakewell. Before his time the Leicestershire hogs were of the same coarse ungainly kind which prevailed generally throughout the midland counties. He commenced by a judicious selection of stock destined for breeding, and by persevering in this system greatly modified the characters of the old race; in due time the Bakewell breed extended into other counties, superseding or influencing the ordinary races. This was the case in Yorkshire, the old breed of which county was of large size, gaunt, greedy, and unthrifty, coarse in the quality of the meat, flat-sided and huge-boned. By crossing with the new Leicester stock great improvement was soon effected; the cross-breed lost in size but gained in every good quality; it became deep-sided, short-limbed, small-boned, and fattened readily. The coarse wiry bristles were exchanged for fine thin hair, and the whole aspect of the animal underwent a transformation. The hogs at about two years old averaged from 420 to 840 lbs., younger animals weighing in proportion.

Some of the Yorkshire breeders preferred the pure new Leicesters, and these are still reared by judicious farmers, who esteem them as superior to most others, and certainly more profitable than most of the larger kinds. They fatten kindly, often attaining the weight of upwards of 420 lbs., at the age of sixteen or eighteen months. Other breeds, however, besides the new Leicester, have found advocates in Yorkshire: among these are the Berkshire, crosses between which and the Yorkshire are deservedly esteemed, as are also crosses between the Yorkshire and Lord Western's improved Essex variety. The latter cross is remarkable for smallness of bone, rotundity of figure, and aptitude for fattening. The hogs when fat average 420 lbs. The Chinese and the Neapolitan pigs have been tried by several breeders, and judicious crosses between these and the Yorkshire race are excellent, both as regards good symmetry and fattening qualities. In fact, the large old Yorkshire stock may be regarded as extinct.

The new Leicesters, even in their own county, have undergone modification since the time of Mr. BakewelL Excellent crosses have been made between them and the Berkshire and Essex breeds. The improved Berkshire hog belongs to the tribe of large swine,