RIBS OF THE PIG

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21597, 15 September 1933, Page 4

RIBS OF THE PIG

VARIATION- IN NUMBER

A curious point concerning the skeletal structure of the pig, and one which may have a practical bearing in the future, has been brought to light in Canada/ While the normal number of ribs possessed by a pig is 14 pairs, investigations by a worker in the Agricultural Department of Saskatchewan University disclosed that the number of pairs may vary from 13 to 17, those with the larger numbers being naturally longer-bodied. The inquiry on which this conclusion is based covered over 4000 individual records, and included animals of so many as 17 different breeds. Ribs above the normal number were found to occur in representatives of all breeds, but were most frequent in the larger breeds, and especially in strains known to possess a heavy bone. A more satisfactory correlation of qualities is that such pigs are usually wellsprung in rib and thick in the flank. Since long-bodied' pigs .are the kind most acceptable to curers, this discovery opens up the interesting possibility that, by selective breeding, a pure strain might be developed, the members of which would uniformly possess 16 or 17 pairs of ribs, and so could be depended on to yield the long side of bacon looked for on the market. Further investigation on the matter, especially with regard to the economic importance of the additional ribs, is stated to be in progress at Saskatchewan University. Probably the much-dis-cussed "best" breed of bacon pig will be found in the type it ia hoped to evolve at Rogina.