THE LARGE BREEDS 



LECTURE NO. 4. 



CHESTER WHITES ORIGIN AND HISTORY, CHARAC- 

 TERISTICS AND STANDARD POINTS. 



ORIGIN AND HISTORY. 



I. The Chester Whites originated in Chester 

 county, Pennsylvania, from which they derive their 

 name. 



(1) They are probably the oldest of the breeds purely 

 American in origin. 



(2) The establishment and improvement of the breed has 

 occupied a large portion of the century. 



II. Materials used in forming the breed. 



(1) The foundation stocks appear to have been large 

 hogs, white in color, found in that part of Pennsylvania. 



(2) These were probably descended from the Old English 

 White breed, the ancestors of the various Yorkshire breeds. 



III. The work of improvement. 



(1) The first impulse to the improvement of the white 

 hogs of Chester county appears to have originated in the impor- 

 tation of a pair of white pigs from Bedford, England, by Capt. 

 James Jeffries of Westchester, Pa. 



(2) Improvement since that time has been more or less 

 continuous, and has been greatly advanced by selection and 

 more recently by breeding to a standard. 



IV. The improvers of Chester Whites. 



(i) A number of farmers appear to have engaged in this 



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