SWINE. 377 



the whole supported by fine symmetrical legs, with which they rise and travel with apparent 

 ease, even when well fattened, and very seldom showing lameness, which has proven a serious 

 objection to many other breeds. They are apparently mange proof, and fatten at any age 

 from pighood up, until exceedingly heavy weights are attained ; good feeders, making them 

 net from 300 to 400 pounds each when from seven to ten months old, and from 500 to 900 

 pounds each when from one year to twenty-two months of age. 



One Jersey farmer raised and slaughtered during the past sixteen years 463 hogs about 

 twenty-one months old, that averaged 538 pounds, and dozens of crops of pigs nine months 

 old dressed 300 to 375 pounds average. 



The most notable qualities of the Jersey Red are healthf ulness and docility. It was 

 these traits that induced me to try them, preferring, like others, a hog not so liable to cholera, 

 even if not so handsome as some fancy breed. They are also very easily cared for in 

 consequence of their remarkable docility a trait which seems to show that they are the 

 descendants of a breed well cared for. But their fecundity is also remarkable. Litters are 

 rarely below ten pigs in number. 



The Jersey Reds now begin to be sufficiently well known to make their own way into 

 public favor. Practical farmers who have tried them find them very desirable for crossing 

 with smaller breeds. In nearly every case where a practical hog-raiser has tried them, he has 

 expressed surprise that the breed has not been better known and introduced before.&quot; 



The illustration of this and the Essex variety are made from photographs of animals 

 imported by Benson, Maule & Co., Philadelphia, Pa., and are good representations of these 

 breeds. The Jersey Reds vary somewhat in color, in some instances being of a dark red, and 

 in others of a sandy color patched with white. The color preferred is the red. The head 

 should be small in proportion to the size of the body; body long; ears large and drooping; 

 jowls large. They are large boned, large framed hogs, and excellent feeders. 



Duroc Swine. There is another breed of red swine known as the Duroc, and 



considered by some to be identical with that of the Jersey Red. They are, however, regarded 

 by many as a distinct breed. It is quite probable that the Jersey Reds and Durocs have 

 their origin in the old time Berkshire, which fifty years ago were of a sandy color marked 

 more or less with black. These hogs attain great weight, breed with more uniformity, and 

 are more fine in some of their points than the Jersey Reds, which they closely resemble. 



YORKSHIRES. 



THE old, original Large Yorkshire was a very coarse animal, requiring a long time to 

 arrive at maturity, and for this reason, when compared with the Improved Yorkshire, 

 was an unprofitable animal. The first steps taken in the right direction for improving 

 these hogs seem to have been by crossing with the White Leicester, a large breed, with 

 much finer points than the former. Sidney says of the breed thus improved: 



&quot; These improved Large Yorkshires are principally bred in the valley of the Aire, in 

 the neighborhood of Leeds, Keighley, and Skipton. They are in great request as breeding 

 stores, and purchased for that purpose for every part of the United Kingdom, as well as for 

 France, Germany, and the United States, at great prices. 



These pigs can be fed to 60 stone, of 14 Ibs., dead weight, or 840 Ibs. The Prize Boar 

 at the Royal Agricultural Fair at Chester weighed, alive, 1,232 Ibs. The Prize Sow at the 

 Royal Fair at Warwick, 1,204 Ibs. At Northallerton were a fine lot of large sows. There 

 were at least a dozen, each of whose live weight would not be much less than half a ton 

 (1,120 Ibs).&quot; 



