out of the kennel and eat them. They will eat mouldy bread or biscuit, fusty hay, and almost rotten straw, furze bushes, heath thistles, and indeed what will they not eat, when they will make a hearty meal on paper, brown or white, printed on, or not printed on, and give milk all the while! They will lie in any dog-hole. They do very well clogged, or stumped out. And then they are very healthy things into the bargain, however closely they may be confined. When sea-voyages are so boisterous as to kill geese, ducks, fowls, and almost pigs, the goats are well and lively; and when no dog of any kind can keep the deck for a minute, a goat will skip about upon it as bold as brass.'

In Britain, no attempts have been made, at least successfully, to introduce foreign breeds of goats, although in France this has been done to a considerable extent. The Cashmere goat, famous for its long silky hair or wool, has been brought to France, and there bred with the Tibet goat, a hardier species, but almost equally esteemed for its wool. The manufactures producible from this material, as the Cashmere shawls have long testified, are scarcely to be surpassed for fineness, and yield immense prices. It is probable that, in our warmest districts, a cross of these foreign goats with the common

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breed might be successfully and advantageously effected.

THE ALPACA

This animal, an inhabitant of the Andes below the line of perpetual snow, belongs to the family of the Camelide. Naturalists are not agreed whether it is a distinct species, or merely a variety of the Llama, which was used as a beast of burden by the native Peruvians. The Paco, or Alpaca, has the wool or long hair more developed than the other species or varieties, whichever they may be. The wool is much prized for its silky fineness, length, and lustrous appearance. Nearly 4,000,000 pounds of Alpaca wool are now annually imported into Britain, where it is used in the manufacture of shawls, coat-linings, cloth for warm climates, umbrellas, &c. Some years ago, attempts were made to naturalise these animals in Britain, but with little success. Their introduction into Australia has also been attempted, with little advantage. They are naturally suited for mountainous districts in a climate rather milder than that of Scotland. They are said to be diminishing in number in their native country, and to threaten, before long, to become extinct.

PIGS.

HOUGH, relatively speaking, the pig may

population as it once was, yet, to the humbler classes, the ancient adage, that it was second only to the cow, cannot be regarded as inapplicable. As an object of natural history, it ranks with the Pachydermata, or thick-skinned order of the Mammalia-the hog, wild-boar, and probably also the peccary of South America, being varieties of the same family. The most remarkable characteristic of the common pig is its long roundish snout, furnished with a strong cartilage at the extremity, for the purpose of grubbing in the earth for roots and other kinds of food. The feet are cloven, and each possesses four toes, two of which are large, and furnished with stout hoofs, the other two being small, posteriorly situated, and scarcely touching the ground. The body is of a cylindrical form, low set, and thinly covered with bristles, which rise into a mane in some of the ancient varieties. The tail is small, short, and in general twisted, and in some breeds is altogether wanting; the ears are either large and pendulous, or short and pointed. The jaws of the pig are powerful; and the teeth with which they are furnished are very formidable, particularly in the wild varieties. Swine do not ruminate (chew the cud); and from this and other

peculiarities, they can feed either on vegetable or animal substances-thus forming a kind of link between the herbivorous and carnivorous classes scarcely any sort of food comes amiss to them.

THE DIFFERENT BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT.

The more popular breeds of pigs in Britain are the Berkshire, the Yorkshire, the improved Chinese, and the improved Essex. Few will grudge the preference to the Berkshire. It is a very valuable pig-grows to a great size, comes early to maturity, is small and fine in the bone, low on its legs, and very superior both as regards quantity and quality of flesh. The colour is almost black, with a little white about the face, head, and feet. One instance is on record of a Berkshire hog, fed by Mr Lawton of Cheshire, measuring 9 feet 8 inches in length, and 4 feet 5 inches in height, and weighing, after being slaughtered and dressed, 86 stones 11 lbs. The Yorkshire pig is an animal which invariably grows to a great size. It stands high on its legs, is very long in the snout, head, and body. It has more bone than some other breeds; but its growing capacities, its inclination to 'shift' for much of its food, and valuable baconforming properties, render it a favourite even beyond the great county from which it derives its name. While the ear is moderately sized, the

colour is white, the bristles long but thin, and the skin often red, and somewhat tender. In the north of England, droves of pigs, mostly of this breed, may be seen in the parks among the cattle. The Chinese breed is small in size, cylindrical in form. The back is a little hollow, and the belly slightly projecting. The ear is small, and so are the bones. The bristles are as soft almost as hair, and the colour is generally white. The head and face resemble more those of a calf than any of the other specimens of the porcine tribe do. The Essex pig is popular in a considerable portion of England, though it has not been very numerously introduced in Scotland, except, perhaps, in the shape of a cross. The Essex pig is upeared, has a rather long snout, a lengthy fleshy carcase, with small bone. The colour is invariably black, and the skin is almost destitute of hair. For long this breed had to contend with a sort of prejudice against them, as being restless, ill to feed, and not calculated to develop in accordance with the amount and value of the food they consumed. In neither of these respects, however, are there any complaints now; and at the Royal Agricultural Society of England's shows, as well as in the Smithfield and Birmingham fat-stock exhibitions, many beautifully plump, portly porkers of this variety enlist public notice.

Then the old Scotch pig claims a word. It is comparatively small in size; generally white or gray in colour; long in reaching maturity, and calculated to feed on almost any sort of food. It is not very fine in the bone, nor so plump nor flesh-producing as the Berkshire and some of the more fashionable breeds; but it has been a valuable animal in its day and generation, and still exists in considerable numbers in Orkney and Shetland, and in the Western Isles.

The Irish pig of bygone years was a tall, leggy, bony, somewhat coarse-coated, heavy-eared animal, often imperfectly fed, yet generally in fair condition. By the introduction of improved breeds from England, and more careful breeding, the Irish pig, as well as the native Scotch pig, has been immensely improved-assimilated much more to the English varieties. Besides those enumerated, there are the huge breeds of the midland counties-of Sussex, Shropshire, Cheshire, &c. which form attractive features in our national show-yards, alike in respect of their colossal proportions, and unmistakable evidences of careful breeding and high feeding.

Some of the best pigs in the country are the result of judicious crossing with the principal breeds. In Scotland, for instance, many of the swine are not of any pure breed, but the old native animal vastly improved by the infusion of a dash of higher blood. This improvement system has not yet proceeded so far over the country as it should, and will soon do, in the interests of all concerned.

healthy circulation, essential to the thriving or fattening of any animal. The bones should be small, and the joints fine. Nothing is more indicative of high breeding than this; and the legs should be no longer than, when fully fat, would just prevent the animal's belly from trailing upon the ground. The leg is the least profitable portion of the hog, and we therefore require no more of it than is absolutely necessary for the support of the rest. See that the feet be firm and sound; that the toes lie well together, and press straightly upon the ground; as also that the claws are even, upright, and healthy. Many say that the form of the head is of little or no consequence, and that a good pig may have an ugly head, it being no affair of anybody but the animal himself which has to carry it; but I regard the head of all animals as one of the very principal points in which pure or impure breeding will be most obviously indicated. A high-bred animal will invariably be found to arrive more speedily at maturity, to take flesh earlier and with greater facility, and altogether to turn out more profitably than one of questionable or impure stock; and such being the case, I consider that the head of the hog is by no means a point to be overlooked by the intending purchaser. The description of head most likely to promise, or rather to be the concomitant of, high breeding, is one not carrying heavy bone, not too flat on the forehead, or possessing too elongated a snout-indeed, the snout should, on the other hand, be short, and the forehead rather convex, recurving upwards; the ear, while pen dulous, should also be inclining somewhat forward, and at the same time light and thin. Nor would I have the buyer pass over even the carriage of a pig. If this be dull, heavy, and dejected, I would be disposed to reject him, on suspicion of ill health, if not of some concealed disorder actually existing, or just about to break forth. Nor is colour to be altogether lost sight of. In the case of pigs, I would, as in reference to any other description of live-stock, prefer those colours which are characteristic of our most esteemed breeds. If the hair be scant, I would look for black, as denoting connection with the delicate Neapolitan; but if too bare of hair, I would be disposed to apprehend too intimate alliance with that variety, and a consequent want of hardihood, that, however unimportant, if pork be the object, renders such animals hazardous speculations as stores, from their extreme susceptibility of cold, and consequent liability to disease.'

The Selection of Breeding-pigs.

sanguinity) is disapproved by most people, as calculated to decrease the size of the progeny, and weaken the constitution. Several instances could be pointed to of successful close breeding of this kind among cattle, but few among pigs so that in the case of the latter, at anyrate, it should be, and generally is, studiously avoided.

An excellent form of feeding-trough is now much used. That part of the trough in the inside of the yard is divided with partitions, reaching some distance into the yard, so that each pig can quietly take its meal without being forced away by a stronger animal, as is often the case in ordinary troughs, where they all feed in common. Another contrivance is also attached, by which the inconvenience occasioned to the attendant in filling the ordinary trough is obviated. Part of the trough being outside the sty, a swing-door or iron plate is suspended on hinges from its upper end; when this is pushed forward towards the yard-side of the trough, and kept in this position by a catch, the pigs cannot obtain entrance; the whole of the trough is therefore exposed to the attendant, so that he can easily place the food without being annoyed by the pigs. When filled, the swingdoor is pulled towards the outside, and there kept by the catch, and the pigs have free access to the trough. The form of feeding-trough on this principle is shewn in the preceding figure. It is built in the wall of the sty, and may be used to feed pigs on either side. A good form of feedingtrough for a yard is the circular one, divided into compartments; these being extended radially for

Fig. 2.-Circular Pig-trough.

some distance, forming a series of stalls admitting only one pig at a time. The figure represents Ransomes and Sims' circular trough for feeding pigs in an open court.

Feeding.

A number of pigs are still allowed to cater the bulk of their food in rural districts, especially of Scotland, during summer, but not nearly so many as once were herded in this way. The most of the pigs now are kept the whole year in sties, and 'hand-fed.' To many cottagers, the keeping of a pig or two is an important matter. When a pair of young pigs are purchased by a cottar or small farmer, one is sold when ready for the butcher, weighing from seven to fourteen stone, and the money received for this one defrays the buyingprice of the two, and also any outlays for artificial food required beyond the wastes of the holding. The second pig is thus free, and is killed for use in the feeder's family over winter, and highly prized it is by them. Unless for delicate pork, it should not be killed less than a year old. During the summer, the pig may be fed on any refuse from the kitchen or garden, including turnip and potato parings, table-waste, cabbage-leaves, &c.; but if barley-dust, or grains from a distillery, can be economically procured, either forms a good article of diet. Let it be kept in remembrance

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that the finer the feeding, the finer will be the pork. The food should, at all events, be of a vegetable kind, or principally so; nothing beyond refuse from the table being advisable in the shape of animal food. Whatever be given, let it be offered in small quantities, and frequently, it being a matter of importance never to allow the pig to become violently hungry, nor to have food lying long in the trough. The food should be carefully salted and seasoned; the trough cleaned out before each meal, the diet varied occasionally, and the animals fed separately according to their ages, sizes, conditions, and destinations. Breeding-pigs, or those intended for bacon, should not be very highly fed at first. Let the quantity of bran and succulent roots used in the diet be guided by the state of the dung-cast.

Farmers possess considerable advantages for feeding pigs. In folds among young store-cattle, during winter, pigs thrive exceedingly well. They get abundance of heat, lying as often as they can between two or more of the cattle: nor are the cattle any the worse for their porcine companions. The food of the pig kept in this way is scarcely appreciable. Pigs intended for slaughter about Christmas, which is the best time to kill them, should be fed on particularly nourishing material during the autumn. If for pork, the feeding need not be quite so high as for bacon. In any case, let the bulk of the food be of a hard, substantial character, such as oats or meal, for some weeks before killing. Boiled potatoes mixed with a handful or two of meal, the last month or two, are a very common feed at the numerous small farms and crofts, especially in Ireland and Scotland, and produce very fine pork, though not so fat as that raised from such hard food as barley, bean, or pease meal. Above all, the half-starving system should be carefully avoided. Repaid as it is by a miserable carcase scarcely worth slaughtering, it is naturally approaching extinction, and cannot reach that goal a day too soon. In fact, there is almost as much oppression occasioned to pigs in these times by excessive as by inadequate feeding. Indeed, many of the huge specimens exhibited at the leading shows appear as if positively suffering from obesity. Not only are they unable to walk, but some of them are quite blind, the eye being buried in three or four inches of actual fat. Nearly all that is visible of the head are the snout and ears.

The most approved modes of curing and preparing pork, brawn, bacon, and hams are detailed in the number on FOOD-BEVERAGES.

Diseases.

The pig is naturally a very healthy animal, and, if at all carefully fed and properly tended in the domesticated state, is not addicted to disease. But if neglected either in feeding or housing, the principal diseases to which they are liable arefever, leprosy, tumours, murrain, measles, foul skin, mange, crackings of the skin, staggers, indigestion or surfeit, lethargy, quinsy, inflammation of the lungs, catarrh, and diarrhoea. The only general prescription that can be given-beyond greater attention to cleanliness and warmth in housing, and to the regulation of diet-is to call in the services of a veterinary surgeon.