Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 May 2016
Body length has long been emphasized by the Scandinavian breeders as being of paramount economic importance in the selection of pigs for the British market. (Rozycki; Jespersen and Madsen ; cited by Smith and Robison, 1934). The development of strains or breeds of pigs possessing some uniformity regarding body length may well assist materially in producing at home the type of bacon which the British housewife needs instead of the continued importation of such bacon from those countries which have for so long dominated our markets. The difficulty of assessing in the live pig what its carcass grade will be, or of forecasting in the weaner its potential quality as a baconer, calls for scientific investigation into the ways and means of doing this, particularly for the selection of pigs for breeding and improvement policies.