Know Your Pigs, Jack Byard, postcard-sized paperback book, 64 pages including 29 photographs. IN STOCK at Old Pond, £4.99.
The Know Your ... series of books is ideal for novice enthusiasts of all ages. For his fifth book, Jack Byard has selected 29 breeds of pigs. These include all those you are likely to see in the UK on farms or at rare breeds centres.
Some are old favourites such as the Berkshire, one of which. the fictional Empress of Blandings, was the subject of Lord Emsworth's devotion in books by PG Wodehouse. Others are new commercial breeds, the types you will see in pig arks on farm land, such as the Meidam and the Hybrid AC1.
Among a third group of breeds are some which you might see on holidays abroad or which have an intrinsic interest, such as the American Choctaw.
Every breed has two pages devoted to it: a full page photograph opposite which are a clear description of the animals and some notes about the breed history and current status. The author makes an impassioned plea for the preservation of those breeds which are currently endangered.
Breeds included in the book
American Guinea Hog
Bentheim Black Pied
Berkshire
Black Iberian
British Landrace
British Lop
British Saddleback
Choctaw
Duroc
Gloucestershire Old Spots
Hampshire (top picture)
Hybrid AC1
Iron Age
Kune Kune (centre picture)
Large Black
Large White
Mangalitza
Meidam
Meishan
Middle White
Ossabaw Island Hog
Oxford and Sandy Black
Pietrain
Poland China
Tamworth (bottom picture)
Vietnamese Pot Bellied
Welsh
Wild Boar
Glamrock
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