for instance, the question of gentleness
or a quiet disposition, it follows from dam to produce with a regularity
equal to that of bad temper, and the latter is wellnigh a certainty.
Again, whoever found that the female produce of a sow deficient in the
maternal instincts proved, if saved for breeding purposes, to be a
really good mother? As a rule the daughters of a sow which gives but a
small quantity of milk, and that of an inferior quality, are also cursed
with the same grievous failings, but this does not appear to be
universally the case, since the milking qualities of the dam descend
through her sons, so that if the female progenitors of the boar have
been good milkers it is probable that the boar's daughters may be able
to rear their pigs successfully, even if their dam had not been in the
habit of suckling her pigs well.

Still, it is quite safe to assert that with this one exception we may
fairly anticipate that the good qualities which we seek in a sow are far
more likely to be found in the sow pigs of a sow herself the possessor,
than from one which does not possess them. We are inclined to the belief
that the alleged failure of some pedigree yelts to make good brood sows
is in the main due to the continued selection for breeding purposes of
those pure-bred yelts which show early maturing and flesh-forming
qualities, rather than that motherly look which is almost invariably to
be found in a sow which is prolific, a free milker, and a really good
mother. There is a marked difference in the formation of a milk-giving
and a fat-producing sow--the latter is generally somewhat heavy in the
shoulders, has a muscular or fat neck, is rather short in the head and
heavy in the jowl, and is altogether more compactly built, whereas a
good brood sow has rather a long face, is wide between the eyes, has a
light muscular neck, is fine in the shoulders, possesses long and square
quarters and appears to be heavier in the hind than in the forequarters.
She is somewhat more loosely built and often shows less of quality.
Thickness of flank and length of side are desirable, the first as
indicating substance and flesh, whilst the second gives plenty of room
for her pigs to suck. The bone should be of good quality; the same
remarks apply to the skin and hair.

About half a century since there existed a fancy, which almost amounted
to a craze for sows of small size; they could not be too neat, and
showing too much so-called femin