On the question of the size and hang of the ears a variety of opinion exists; pigs with long ears, and pigs with short ears are found possessing good carcases. It is the quality of the ear rather than its size and hang which seems to indicate the character most. A pig with a thin and firm ear is usually of fine quality, whereas a pig which has a thick, coarse ear is generally coarse in bone, skin, flesh, and hair. The neck of the boar should be muscular as indicating constitution and natural vigour; the shoulders fine and obliquely laid, the ribs well sprung, the loin wide, the quarters long and square, not drooping, the hams full and extending quite down to the hocks, and without any of that loose skin which is far too common amongst the largest of our breeds of pigs, and which is a sure sign of coarseness. The flank should be thick and well let down, as this indicates constitution and lean meat, the legs should be fairly short and set well apart so that the heart, lungs, and other organs have plenty of room to perform their share of the work of the pig. The skin should be fine and the hair straight and silky, as well as plenty of it. Sparsity of hair is generally an indication of shortage of lean meat, whilst curliness and coarseness of hair are far too frequently associated with excessive fat and coarseness of meat. With regard to the reproductive parts of the boar there are one or two points which should receive special attention. A boar with excessively small testicles should be avoided, as such a one is often barren. Again, a boar with one testicle of normal size and the other smaller, ordinarily suffers from the same disqualification to a lesser extent. A ruptured boar should not on any account be used, as this weakness is strongly hereditary. The weakness may not possibly show itself in the first generation, but it is certain to appear sooner or later. Not only is it a sure index of weakness of constitution, but pigs so affected occasionally die suddenly, whilst there is always a certain amount of risk from the operation of castration.