LECTURE NO. 10. 



THE DUROC-JERSEYS ORIGIN AND HISTORY, CHAR- 

 ACTERISTICS AND STANDARD POINTS. 



ORIGIN AND HISTORY. 



I. . The American Duroc-Jerseys are appar- 

 ently the outcome of the union of two classes of 

 swine, known respectively as the Durocs and Jersey 

 Reds. 



(1) The Durocs, of medium size and bone, have been 

 bred for many years in Saratoga county, New York. 



(2) The Jersey Reds, large in size and coarse in bone, 

 hair and flesh, have been bred in New Jersey for the past 50 

 years. 



II. The origin and early development of this 

 breed is not apparently well known. 



(1) Writers have variously represented them as origi- 

 nating in the Tamworth, the Red Berkshire, and the African 

 or Guinea hog. 



(2) It would seem probable that they are possessed largely 

 of the blood of the old race from which the Improved Berk- 

 shires have been evolved. 



III. The improvers of the breed. 



(1) As with nearly all the American breeds of swine, the 

 improvers of the Duroc-Jerseys have been farmers in certain 

 neighborhoods, who sought to improve the pork-producing 

 qualities of the animals which they fed. 



(2) The history of the amalgamation of the two original 

 branches of the breed does not appear to have been very 

 clearly written as yet. 



IV. Organization. 



(i) Two leading associations, viz, the American Duroc- 



Jersey Swine Breeders' Association and the National Duroc- 



Jersey Record Association, have been organized in the 

 interests of the breed in the United States. 



