PIG (a word of obscure origin, connected with the

See also:

• LOW, SETH (1850- )
• LOW, WILL HICOK (1853- )

Low Ger. and Dut. word of the same meaning, bigge)  , a common name given to the domesticated swine of agricultural use . (For the zoology, see SWINE.) British breeds of pigs are classified as black, white and red . In some places, notably Wales and Gloucester, a remnant of a spotted breed lingers; and a large proportion of common pigs, often parti-coloured, are mongrels . The white breeds are liable to sun-scald, and black pigs (like black men) are much better adapted than white to exposure in strong sunlight, conforming to the rule that animals in the tropics have black skins . The Large Whites may have in the skin a few blue spots which grow white hair . The head is long, light in the jowl, and wide between the eyes, with long thin ears inclined slightly forward and fringed with long fine hair . The neck is long, but not coarse, the ribs are deep, the loin wide and level, the tail set high, and the legs straight and set well outside the carcase . The whole body, including the back of the neck, is covered with straight silky hair, which denotes quality and lean meat . Pigs of this breed are very prolific, and they may be grown to enormous weights—over 11 cwt. alive . The Middle Whites are built on a smaller scale than the Large Whites . They are shorter in the heads and legs, and fuller at the jowl, thicker and more compact in the body . The sows are quite as prolific as those of the Large White breed, and, as their produce matures earlier, they are much in demand for breeding porkers .

The Small White pigs are beautifully proportioned . The head and legs are very

short, and the body short, thick and wide; the jowl is heavy, the ears pricked, and the thin skin laden with long silky, wavy, but not curly, hair, whilst the tail is very fine . A deficiency of lean meat is a common characteristic of the breed, which is almost extinct . The above three breeds were designated Yorkshire Whites, and are still so named at times . The Middle White, formed by crossing the large and the small breeds, is not so symmetrical as the parent stocks, and the type is not uniform . The Lincolnshire Curly Coated or Boston pig is a local breed of great size and capacity for producing pork . It is very hardy and prolific, but somewhat coarse in the bone . It has an abundance of long curly hair, a short face and a straight nose, and the ears, not too long and heavy, fall over the face . It crosses well with the Large White, the Large Black and the Berkshire . The Large Black breed, which vies with the Large White breed for size, and is probably its superior as a bacon pig, has only since 1900 received national show-yard recognition; but there is ample evidence that, with its characteristic whole black colour with a mealy hue, length, fine hair and lop ear, the Large Black existed in the south of England for generations . It has been continuously and carefully bred in Cornwall, Devon, Essex and Suffolk, and from these centres it has rapidly spread all over the country . Large Blacks are exceedingly docile, and the ears, hanging well forward over the eyes, contribute materially to a quietness of habit which • renders them peculiarly adapted to field grazing .

On

account of their hardiness and disposition to early maturity they have proved valuable for crossing purposes . The Large Black Pig Society was incorporated in 1899 . The Berkshire is a black pig with a pinkish skin, and a little white on the nose, forehead, pasterns, and tip to the tail . It has a moderately short head with heavy jowl, a deep, compact carcase, and wide, low and well-developed hind-quarters, with heavy hams . The skin carries an abundance of fine hair . The Berkshire is an early-maturity breed which has been somewhat inbred, and is not so hardy and prolific as most breeds . The boars cross well with common stock . It merits the most credit in raising the quality of Irish pigs . In America it is in the front rank for numbers and quality as a lard-hog . There it often grows to be a larger and finer animal than it is in England . The Small Black or Black Suffolk was produced from the old Essex pig by crossing with the Neapolitan . It resembles the Small White, except that the skin is coal-black in colour, and the coat of hair is not usually profuse .

The Small Black, more-over, is rather longer, and stands somewhat higher, whilst it yields more lean meat than the Small White . It matures early and is

quick to fatten . The Tamworth is one of the oldest breeds of pigs . It is hardy, active and prolific, and nearly related to the wild boar . The colour is red or chestnut, with at times darkish spots on the skin . The head, body and legs are long, and the ribs deep and flat . Originally a local breed in the districts around the Stafford-shire town from which it takes its name, it is now extensively bred, and highly valued as a bacon pig . (W . FR . ; R . W.) In America nearly all the breeds may be classified as lard-hogs . Bacon-pigs fed on Indian corn degenerate into lard-hogs, run down in size and become too small in the bone and less prolific by inbreeding .

The

Poland-China, the most popular breed in the United States, is thus degenerating . It is a black pig like the Berk-shire, but has short lop-ears, a more pointed, straight nose, a more compact body, and more white markings . It is a breed of mixed blood, and is believed to have originated from the " Big China " pig—a large white hog with sandy spots, taken to Ohio in 1816, and blended with Irish graziers in 1839, and with a breed known as Bayfields, as well as with Berkshires . In Iowa the Berkshire is a combined lard and bacon pig in high favour . The Duroc Jersey or Duroc, of a red or cherry-red colour—not sandy or dark—is the most popular pig in Nebraska and equal to any other in Iowa . It is a large prolific lard-hog, easily making 300 lb in eight months . It has gained rapidly in popularity since the beginning of this century, and is spreading to other centres . The Chester White, named from Chester county, Pennsylvania, is one of the four leading breeds of lard-hogs in America . It is of mixed origin and bears a strong family resemblance to the Lincolnshire curly-coated pig . The early English ancestors, the breed of which is not on record in America, were most probably of Lincoln origin . The sow is a prolific breeder and good mother, weighing, when mature but not fat, 450 lb—the boar averaging 600 lb, and barrows at six to eight months 350 lb . At Vermont Station, in a 127 days' test, Chester Whites made an average gain of 1.36 lb and dressed 84.5% carcase, and they can gain fully 1 lb of live weight for 3 lb of grain consumed.three times a day and supplied with coal-ashes or a few handfuls of earth .

Of the fatted live weight of a pig 83 % is

butcher's carcase, and 91 % of the increase from loo to zoo lb is carcase . From 3 tog lb of meal consumed results in an increase of I lb of live weight in a pig, which is the most economical meat producer on a farm . Concentrated and digestible foods give best results, a pig has a small stomach . Fjord's Danish experiments show that for fattening pigs 1 lb of rye- or barley-meal is equivalent to 6 lb of skim-milk or 12 lb of whey, and I lb of meal equivalent to 8 lb of marigolds or 4 lb of potatoes .