Pigs, Poultry, Etc.
The large white breed is the class of pigs chiefly found in Lincolnshire, though here and there one comes across a herd of Berkshires; the former will grow to weigh as much as 50 stone, and being the staple food of the labouring classes, it will be realized that weight, even if accompanied by more fat than a townsman would appreciate, is very greatly to be desired. Nearly every labourer has a pig or two, insuring them in the village Pig Club, which provides compensation against loss, and veterinary attention in the case of sickness. There are no bacon factories in Lincolnshire, and the production of pork can scarcely be called an industry. The Messrs. Duckering, of Kirton Lindsey, are the greatest breeders of the large white pig in Lincolnshire, and they have been most successful exhibitors in the show ring, taking over 3,000 prizes in money, cups, and medals, since, and including the Royal Show at Worcester in 1883, and having been particularly successful in the principal show-yards on the Continent. There is also an old Lincolnshire curly-hair breed, the best examples of which may be seen at the farms of Messrs. B. and J. W. Rowland, Wainfleet, and Mr. H. Caudwell, Midville, Boston.
All kinds of poultry are reared on the farms in Lincolnshire, as there is always a supply of second quality corn, which is admirably adapted for feeding; and in recent years more attention has been paid to what, if properly managed, is a most profitable and paying concern in connexion with a farm. On many of the farms portable chicken-houses are drawn into the fields as soon as the corn is carried, so that the birds are able to find their own living for some little time; and much more care is taken in breeding and home management than used to be the case. The old Lincolnshire Buffs, a very useful general-purpose fowl, are still to be found on many farms, while on others there are Indian and brown-red game fowl, black and white Minorcas, Leghorns, Houdans, Orpingtons (black, buff, and white), Dorkings, Cochins, Plymouth Rocks, and Wyandottes of various colours. Geese, and Aylesbury, Rouen, and Indian Runner ducks are to be found everywhere, and most farmers go in for turkeys and guinea-fowls as well. A great source of wealth in bygone years was the breeding of geese in enormous quantities in South Lincolnshire for their feathers and quills, but the drainage of the land has had its effect on this industry, and though raised in great numbers still, nothing like as many geese and ducks are bred in Lincolnshire as hitherto. Mr. W. Bygott, of Ulceby, has a world-wide reputation as a breeder, exhibitor, and exporter of ducks and geese. A good deal of honey is made in the county, particularly round Keelby, the clover crops, which follow on the barley crops, being particularly happy hunting-grounds for bees.
Dairy work is not practised to any great extent, the bulk of the land being unsuitable, and there being no great centres of population in the county. The principal towns have to be supplied, a fact that is taken full advantage of by farmers on their outskirts; but dairy farms, where the production of milk and butter is the chief business, are very few and far between. A better system of collection of eggs, butter, poultry, etc., for the country districts would prove a profitable undertaking and most beneficial to agriculturists.
