ELEVENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART XII 791 



breeders and the fair. What the swine exhibit lacked in numbers it 

 made up in quality so that it was the general verdict that the winners 

 were in most cases the best ever seen in the state. 



The Berkshire contingent was particularly strong and seemed to be 

 one of the largest as well as the best ever brought here. Rivalry could 

 not have been more keen among the breeders of this progressive breed. 

 It was no enviable task assigned to N. H. Gentry, W. N. Lovejoy and J. 

 W. Martin of assigning places on the prize-list , to such closely matched 

 and stoutly supported rivals as met in the various rings. But the work 

 had to be done, and to the credit of the committee be it said that there 

 was no serious dissent from their opinions. Exhibitors who came with 

 high hopes went away in some cases almost empty-handed, but they lost 

 in a fight in which it was a credit even to stand inside the money. W. S. 

 Corsa had the best of it. Faultless breeding and superb fitting secured 

 the female grand championship for his herd. Mistress Piece is a model 

 of strong feminine character and refined breed type, smooth, deep and 

 long of body, splendid in her hams and active on her feet. The senior 

 and grand champion boar of The Farmer Farm is scarcely so refined in 

 quality as his rival but is long, wide and correct in pattern. 



The Poland-China herds included the best young hogs ever seen at the 

 fair and the high character was well maintained throughout the female 

 classes. In boars the junior yearling and pig classes were of outstanding 

 excellence, but the aged boars have made a better showing sometimes 

 heretofore. J. M. Stewart made the awards, following closely the medium 

 type, growthy but thick-fleshed and smooth. None of the coarse gangling 

 kind got a look at the money, nor were there any of the delicate dump- 

 lings bearing away ribbons. The grand champions, both from the Me- 

 harry herd, are of the wide low strong-backed stamp, heavy in ham and 

 short in leg, fine but not delicate, vigorous but not coarse. J. E. Francis 

 & Son, New Lenox, 111., furnished the principal competition for the Me- 

 harry herd, maintaining a uniformly high place in the list. 



Duroc-Jerseys were as usual very prominent in numbers and the qual- 

 ity was the best ever seen at the fair. Prof. W. J. Kennedy and Prof. 

 H. H. Kildee, both of Ames, la., judged this breed again this year. Ex- 

 hibitors liked their work last year and came back with their herds as fit 

 as they could make them. The coarse wrinkled beefy-boned hogs were 

 consistently ignored in the placing and the compact medium-sized smooth 

 hog, standing well up on his toes, was given the preference every time. 

 Whenever any divergence was made from this stamp it was because the 

 hog with both quality and substance could not always be found to take 

 each of the lower places in the list. Freed's Colonel, the grand champion 

 boar, is a junior yearling of excellent scale and smoothly molded from 

 shoulder to ham. His mate for the highest honors, the Waltemeyer two- 

 year-old sow Golden Queen 3d is a close match in build, wide and deep 

 from end to end and stands up squarely on her toes. 



Chester Whites in numbers and character comparing favorably with 

 former years were judged by James Stewart, Ainsworth, la. He selected 

 animals combining rugged size with refinement of outline and character. 



