The Small White or Small Yorkshire was a British

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

domestic pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus s ...

, common during the nineteenth century. It is now

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

, but its characteristics were used in producing the

Middle White The Middle White is a British breed of domestic pig. It originated in Yorkshire, and derived from the Large White and the now-extinct Small White. It was recognised in 1852, and the first herd-book was published in 1884. It is a porker, rear ...

and other breeds.

History and characteristics

The Small White was developed in the early nineteenth century by cross-breeding the traditional Old Yorkshire, a large white pig, with imported Chinese pigs.The Middle White

British Pig Association The National Pig Association is the trade association for the pig industry in the UK. History It was formed in October 1999 from the British Pig Association commercial committee and the NFU pig committee. British pig industry The British pig in ...

, accessed 23 February 2010 This created a small animal with a pure white ground colour, pricked ears, the short, wide head of the Chinese breeds and their characteristic short upturned snout.Spencer, S. ''Pigs: Breeds and Management'', Vinton, 1897, p.24 In common with the Chinese breeds, it reached maturity early and rapidly put on fat. The Small White was further refined and "improved" during the period by agriculturalists such as

Henry Reynolds-Moreton, 2nd Earl of Ducie Henry George Francis Reynolds-Moreton, 2nd Earl of Ducie (8 May 1802 – 2 June 1853), styled the Hon. Henry Reynolds-Moreton from 1808 to 1837 and the Lord Moreton from 1837 to 1840, was a British Whig politician, agriculturalist and cattle bre ...

amongst others. The Small White was always intended as a

show Show or The Show may refer to: Competition, event, or artistic production * Agricultural show, associated with agriculture and animal husbandry * Animal show, a judged event in the hobby of animal fancy ** Cat show ** Dog show ** Horse show ** Sp ...

pig rather than as a porker or bacon pig.Middle Whites
Eaves & Lewin, accessed 23 February 2010 It was particularly popular with aristocratic and "hobby" breeders, as opposed to farmers or smallholders.

Creation of the Middle White

The Small White proved a popular cross with both the

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

pig (now extinct) and the

Large White ''Pieris brassicae'', the large white, also called cabbage butterfly, cabbage white, cabbage moth (erroneously), or in India the large cabbage white, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is a close relative of the small white, ''Pieris ra ...

, another

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

breed. This was to lead to the creation of a new type after an incident at the 1852

Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford city centre, north-west of Bi ...

Agricultural Show, when pigs belonging to Joseph Tuley, a weaver, were refused entry to the Large White class as they were considered too small; they had been bred by crossing Large White sows with Small White boars. Tuley's pigs were, however, considered good enough that a new breed was created, the Middle White, which went on to be one of the most popular breeds of pig during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century: it retains the distinctive pricked ears and short snout of the Small White.

Extinction

The popularity of the Middle White led to the decline of the Small White breed, and by the turn of the century it had almost disappeared; it became extinct in 1912.

References

{{British livestock, R.2 Extinct British pig breeds