Pigs: Breeds and Management

Sanders Spencer

Description

In recent years there has been an increasing resurgence in small scale pig rearing for both commercial use and exhibition purposes. With many of the older and less common breeds sinking into obscurity, and in some cases vanishing completely, this book will greatly assist all who seek to raise the profile of one of our oldest and most favourite, domesticated farm animals. "Pigs. Breeding and Management." Consists of one hundred and eighty four pages containing thirteen Comprehensive Chapters: Breeds of Pigs. (Including Scales of Points). Selection of the Boar. Management of the Boar. Selection of the Sow. Management of the Sow. Mating. Management of the Young Pigs. Exhibition Pigs. Breeding Cross-Breds. Housing Pigs. Experimental Pig Feeding. Pig Census and Value. Diseases of the Pig. Bacon and Ham Curing. There are also twenty four full page vintage black and white photos of various pig breeds. This is a fascinating read for any pig breed enthusiast, farmer or smallholder, with much of the content remaining useful and practical today.

Sujets

• Agronomie
• Agronomy for Sustainable Development
• Agriculture
• Engineering
• Technology
• Sciences et techniques
• Animal Husbandry

Informations

• Publié par: Read Books Ltd.
• Date de parution: 08 janvier 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781528769730
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

LIVE STOCK HANDBOOKS.
Edited by J AMES S INCLAIR , Editor of Live Stock Journal, Agricultural Gazette, c .

NO. V.
PIGS.
BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT
BY
SANDERS SPENCER.
W ITH A C HAPTER ON D ISEASES OF THE P IG BY P ROFESSOR J. W ORTLEY A XE , AND A C HAPTER ON B ACON AND H AM C URING BY L. M. D OUGLAS .
SIXTH EDITION.
ILLUSTRATED .
London: VINTON COMPANY, LTD., 8, BREAM S BUILDINGS, CHANCERY LANE, E.C. - 1919.
LIVE STOCK HANDBOOKS SERIES.
THE STOCKBREEDER S LIBRARY.
Demy 8vo, 5s. net each, by post, 5s. 6d., or the set of five vols., if ordered direct from the Publisher, carriage free, 25s. net; Foreign 27s. 6d.

This series covers the whole field of our British varieties of Horses, Cattle, Sheep and Pigs, and forms a thoroughly practical guide to the Breeds and Management. Each volume is complete in itself, and can be ordered separately.

I.-SHEEP: B REEDS AND M ANAGEMENT . New and revised 8th Edition.
48 Illustrations. By J OHN W RIGHTSON , M.R.A.C., F.C.S., President of the College of Agriculture, Downton.
Contents .-Effects of Domestication-Long and Fine-woolled Sheep-British Long-woolled Sheep-Border Leicesters-Cotswolds-Middle-woolled-Mountain or Forest-Apparent Differences in Breeds-Management-Lambing Time-Ordinary and Extraordinary Treatment of Lambs-Single and Twin Lambs-Winter Feeding-Exhibition Sheep-Future of Sheep Farming-A Large Flock-Diseases.
II.-LIGHT HORSES: B REEDS AND M ANAGEMENT . Revised 7th Edition.
With 28 Full-page Illustrations. By W. C. A. B LEW , M.A.; W. S CARTH -D IXON ; Dr. G EORGE F LEMING , C.B., F.R.C.V.S.; V ERO S HAW , B.A., c.
Contents .-Thoroughbreds-Hackneys-Cleveland Bays and Yorkshire Coach Horses-Arabians-American Trotters-Hunters-Hacks-Ponies-Asses and Mules-Management-Diseases and Injuries.
III.-HEAVY HORSES: B REEDS AND M ANAGEMENT . 6th Edition. With 32
Full-page Illustrations. By H ERMAN B IDDELL ; C. I. D OUGLAS ; T HOMAS D YKES ; Dr. G EORGE F LEMING , C.B., F.R.C.V.S.; A RCHIBALD M ACNEILAGE ; G ILBERT M URRAY , and W. R. T ROTTER .
Contents .-The Shire Horse-The Suffolk Horse-The Clydesdale Horse-The Breeding of Heavy Cart Horses for Street Work-The London Work Horse in Street and Stable-Farm Management of the Heavy Horse-Diseases and Injuries to which Heavy Horses are liable.
IV.-CATTLE: B REEDS AND M ANAGEMENT . 8th Edition. With 40 Illustrations. By W ILLIAM H OUSMAN . The Veterinary Section, by Prof. J. W ORTLEY A XE .
Contents.-The Ox , Wild and Domesticated: Original Species-The Park Herds-Changes under Domestication. Ancient Horned Breeds: Scotch Highland-Welsh-Kerry and Dexter -Devon and South Hams-Sussex. Improved Horned Breeds: Longhorn-Shorthorn-Hereford-Ayrshire. Polled Breeds: White Polled-Galloway-Aberdeen Angus-Red Polled. Channel Islands Breeds: Jerseys-Guernseys. Management: General Management-Dairy Management and Records. Diseases of Cattle, c .
V.-PIGS: B REEDS AND M ANAGEMENT . 6th Edition. With 24 Illustrations.
By S ANDERS S PENCER . With a Chapter on the Diseases of the Pig, by Prof. J. W ORTLEY A XE , and a Chapter on Bacon and Ham Curing, by L. M. D OUGLAS .
Contents .-Breed of Pigs-Scales of Points-Selection of the Boar-Management of the Boar-Selection of the Sow-Management of the Sow-Mating-Management of Young Pigs-Exhibition Pigs-Breeding Cross-breeds-Housing Pigs-Experimental Pig Feeding-Pig Census and Value-Diseases of the Pig-Bacon and Ham Curing, c.

VINTON CO., Ltd., 8, Bream s Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, E.C.4.
CONTENTS.

C HAPTER I.-Breeds of Pigs
C HAPTER II.-Selection of the Boar
C HAPTER III.-Management of the Boar
C HAPTER IV.-Selection of the Sow
C HAPTER V.-Management of the Sow
C HAPTER VI.-Mating
C HAPTER VII.-Management of the Young Pigs
C HAPTER VIII.-Exhibition Pigs
C HAPTER IX.-Breeding Cross-breds
C HAPTER X.-Housing Pigs
C HAPTER XI.-Experimental Pig Feeding
C HAPTER XII.-Pig Census and Value
C HAPTER XIII.-Diseases of the Pig
C HAPTER XIV.-Bacon and Ham Curing
ILLUSTRATIONS.

Large White Boar, Walton What s Wanted II.
Large White Boar, Holywell Royalty II.
Large Black Sow, Lady Bacon
Berkshire Sow, Buscot Stumpy
Tamworth Boar, Middleton Mainspring
Berkshire Sow, Manor Empress Queen
Tamworth Sow, Whitacre Beauty
Middle White Sow, Holywell Carlisle Victoria
Gloster Old Spots Sow
Small Black or Essex Pigs
Hampshire Boar
Small White Sow
Cumberland Boar
Berkshire Boar, Highclere Topper
Large White Boar, Borrowfield Topsman 5037
Middle White Boar, Castlecroft Dandy
Large White Sow, Holywell Model
Large White Sow, Bottesford Model
Middle White Sow, Walton Bridesmaid 8th
Small White Sow
Middle White Boar, Wharfedale Reveller 11329
Berkshire Boar
Large Black Boar, Royal Bodmin
Model Sides of Bacon
PIGS.
BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT.

CHAPTER I.
BREEDS OF PIGS.
I T has been freely asserted that the original wild pig, from which all our many cultivated breeds or varieties are descended, was of a rusty grey colour when young, the colour deepening as the pig reached maturity, and becoming a dark chestnut brown, with its hairs tinged with grey at the extremities as old age crept over it. For this opinion, which is expressed with great confidence by persons who have travelled considerably, there is much to be said. From residents in many foreign countries to which we have shipped pigs, we have learned that the semi-wild pig of the several countries is of a rusty or a slate colour, which with care in selection can be made of a lighter or of a darker shade. Climate and soil also undoubtedly affect the colour to a considerable extent; thus in Sierra Leone the pigs were described to us by the Hon. John Smith, one of the greatest benefactors of that country, as very small in size and bone, with comparatively little lean meat, and nearly black in colour, particularly the old pigs. In New Zealand the native pigs are very similar. In the colder portions of Siberia the pigs were stated by a resident to be very small, of a slate colour and mostly bristles . It appears to be the same as regards the colour of the native pigs of all countries-this has become fixed, or at all events materially affected, by the colour of the lair in which it has to make its resting and hiding place. Thus in those countries where the climate is such as to produce a profusion of dark-coloured and rank herbage-as in tropical countries-there the wild pig is found to be of a colour approaching black; on the other hand, in the temperate zone where the herbage is sparse and the woodland partially free from undergrowth, the colour of the wild pig is of a much lighter shade. This may have been brought about in two ways: the great heat in the tropical countries may through many generations have gradually had the same effect on the skins and even on the hairs of the pigs as it has had on the hair and skin of human beings; whilst the mere fact that a pig when asleep or resting was of the same colour as its surroundings, would render it infinitely less subject to the attacks of its enemies, either biped or quadruped, so that in the course of time the predominating colour of the pigs would become lighter or darker as the proportion of pigs which escaped destruction were of the one or of the other shade of colour, and that similar to the herbage or undergrowth of its environment. It is impossible to estimate the proportionate effects of these two causes, which undoubtedly affect the colour of the wild pig, but we are inclined to think that the freedom from attack and probable death enjoyed by pigs of a colour the nearest approaching their lair is one of the chief agents. On the other hand, it appears to us that the climate of a country, and its consequent variation in the quality, quantity and density of the natural growth would have a most material effect alike on the formation of the wild pig, on its disposition, and on its natural aptitude to make meat quickly, or the reverse, and having a greater or lesser proportion of fat. For instance, in a tropical country where the undergrowth is frequently a tangled mass, free passage of the wild pig would be almost an impossibility, whilst the ease with which the boar would be able to obtain a plentiful supply of bulky or fat-forming food would render it far less disposed, and indeed less able, to undertake those marauding or amatory excursions which would be certain to end in trials of strength and endurance.
The mere fact that these wild pigs had for many generations been bred from parents whose environments had rendered it unnecessary that any considerable exertion should be requisite on their part, or that the lords of the harem should be active and lithe, or of a quarrelsome nature, would in the course of time have the effect of completely altering the disposition and the form of the pigs. They would become less restless and consequently more inclined to grow fat instead of muscle; those portions of the body used in the act of progression, in rooting for food, or in those fearful battles in which the marauding boars indulge, would become less developed, the bone of the whole frame would become lighter, and the hinder quarters and the depth of body would in course of time become proportionately greater. The pig itself would also naturally fine down, since that law, which by some persons has been called the survival of the fittest, would in their case have been to a great extent in abeyance. It is no doubt true that the lord of the harem would be the one boar physically the best endowed at the time,