538 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 
portant to get a breed of pigs that will eat, digest, and assimilate a _ 
large amount of food, and gives reasons for this opinion, citing some ex- 
periments that confirm it. It is a great point with the author to induce 
farmers to so breed and feed their hogs that they will be in the pork- 
barrel long before they attain the age of an old-fashioned hog. 
The first step of importance in breeding pigs is the selection of a re- 
fined, thorough-bred boar. In raising pigs for the butcher, it is not 
necessary that selection be limited to any particular breed; but the se- 
lection must be made with reference to the points whether the pigs are to 
be fattened and sold when a few months old for fresh pork, or to be kept 
until they have nearly attained their growth before being fattened, and 
whether large hogs are wanted, or smaller and finer ones at a less age. 
Much depends also upon the sow to be bred from. It is an easy matter 
to find strong, vigorous sows of good size in any neighborhood where 
the Chester White or similar large breeds have been introduced. Se- 
lect the largest, thriftiest, and best-formed sows; put them to a good, 
thorough-bred boar; let the sow be regularly and liberally fed, without 
making her too fat. One that has been half starved all her life cannot 
produce pigs of good size, and with a tendency to grow rapidly and 
mature early. The small breeds mature earlier than the large ones, 
which is in itself a great advantage, as the pigs are not only ready for 
the butcher at an earlier age, but as animal life is always attended bya 
constant transformation of tissue, every day we gain in time saves the 
amount of food: necessary to supply this waste and keep up the animal 
heat. Some farmers half starve their breeding sows, from a notion that 
it improves their breeding and suckling qualities, just as some dairy- 
men think a cow must be kept poor if she is to be a good milker; a mis- 
take of the cause for the effect. The cow is thin because she is a good 
milker, and not a good milker because she is thin. So a good sow gets 
very thin in suckling her pigs; but itis a great mistake to keep her tliin 
in order to make her a good breeder and suckler. 
In raising improved, thorough-bred pigs, it is a great object to get a 
breed that will grow rapidly and mature early ; and the better the breed 
the more rapidly they will grow. A thorough-bred boar should be pro- 
cured from some reliable breeder, and put to the largest and best sows 
the farmer has. A highly-refined, thorough-bred boar, at six or eight 
weeks old, can usually be bought for $20 to $25. Such a boar in a neigh- 
borhood is capable of adding $1,000 a year to the profits of the farmers 
who use him. 
Mr. Harris concludes his book with the following summary of the 
facts and principles discussed : ; 
The leading breeds of English pigs are the Berkshire, Essex, and Yorkshire. The 
Essex are entirely black the Berkshire are also dark-colored pigs, but not so black as 
the Essex, and have also white spots on the head and feet. There are large and small 
Berkshires. The Yorkshires are white, but occasionally dark spots show themselves 
on the skin, which are not*considered decisive evidence that the pigs are not thorough- 
bred. ‘There are small, medium, and large or mammoth Yorkshires. 
The Essex, at maturity, will dress from four hundred to four hundred and fifty 
pounds. They are the largest of the smallbreeds. Berkshires often exceed this weight; 
but when such is the case, they would be classed as large Berkshires. The Prince Albert 
Suffolks are small Yorkshires. 
The leading breeds, originating in the United States, are the Cheshires, or Jefferson 
(New York) County, the Chester Whites, or Chester (Pennsylvania) County, and the 
Magie, or Butler (Ohio) County pigs. The China-Polands, or China and Big Polands, 
are said to be the same breed as the Magie, or Butler County. The Illinois Swine 
Breeders’ Association, at its meeting in 1870, resolved to call them the Magie breed. 
They are a large, coarse breed, with black and white and occasionally sandy spots. 
Like the Chester Whites, they will doubtless afford splendid sows for crossing with the 
Essex, Berkshire, or other refined thorough-bred boars. The Jefferson County are 2 
very handsome white breed, essentially Yorkshires. 
—- 
