The Small Black or

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

pig was a breed of

domestic pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities cons ...

originating in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

during the nineteenth century. It is now

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

History

The origin of the breed is uncertain, but it was thought to have been created through crosses of the

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

pig with foreign breeds in efforts to 'improve' it. A herd of Neapolitan pigs belonging to Lord Western may have contributed to its makeup, with much breeding work being carried out by Thomas Crisp of Butley Abbey, Wickham Market, in the mid 19th century. The Small Black was said to closely resemble the Small White, originally a Yorkshire breed, with the exception of the colour;Long, J. ''The book of the pig: its selection, breeding and management'', Gill, 1886, p. 155
/ref> like the Small White, its pricked ears, small size and short upturned snout indicated a contribution to the breed from imported Chinese pigs. The Small Black was also often known as the Suffolk, Improved Suffolk or Black Suffolk, although an earlier and unrelated small white breed of pig had also been known as the Suffolk.''History, Gazetteer and Directory of Suffolk, Comprising a General Survey of the County, and Separate Historical, Statistical and Topographical Descriptions of All the Hundreds, Boroughs, Towns, Ports, Parishes, Townships, Chapelries, Villages, Hamlets, Manors and Unions'', 1874, p.29 The Small Black seems to have had a rather mixed reputation amongst agriculturalists. By the turn of the 20th century it was dropping rapidly out of favour, and the breed was said to have "a delicate constitution" and "a too large percentage of fat", although it matured early.Walker, J. ''Pigs for Profit'', W. H. & L. Collingridge, 1905, pp. 27–28
/ref> The breed appears to have disappeared in the early 20th century, when it was eventually merged into the Large Black.

References

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