California Agriculturist and Live Stock Journal. 



Seth Gbken, the noted sportsman and 

 fish culturist, in the Forest and ISireani, 

 makes what he considers a very import- 

 ant suggestion to trout fishermen. He 

 saj's that the most efi'ective hook in fly- 

 fishing, and one which he himself al- 

 ways uses, is made from a strong needle, 

 annealed, bent and tempered, and con- 

 sequently without a barb. He asserts 

 that only in this way can a reallj' sharp 

 hook be obtained; tl-at the tension of the 

 rod is amply sufficient to keep such a 

 hook in its place, and that a very gentle 

 stroke will fix the keen point in the 

 mouth of the fish. 



xmxL 



The Original Breed of Berkshire 

 Swine. 



>4>RADITI0N, and the earliest pub- 

 -ished accounts of what has long 

 been particularly distinguished by 

 the name of Berkshire swme, repre- 

 sents them, down to about a century 

 since, as among the largest breeds of 

 England- -weighing, full grown, fi-om 

 700 to 1,000 jjounds, or more. The 

 "Complete Grazier" describes one, in 

 1807, as weighing 113 stone (904 lbs). 

 This was exhibited, with others, by bir 

 William Curtis, at the cattle show of 

 Lord Somerville, in that year. Johnson, 

 in his "Farmers' Encyclopedia," Lou- 

 don, 1842, says that they weighed at that 

 time from 50 to 100 stone (400 to 800 

 lbs). The latter of these, doubtless, 

 were of the improved breed. 



Originally they were represented as 

 being generally of a buff, sandy, or red- 

 dish-brown color, spotted with black, oc- 

 casionally tawny or white spotted in the 

 same manner. They were coarse in the 

 bone; head rather large, with heavy flop 

 ears; broad on the back; deep iu the 

 chest; fiat-sided, and long iu the body; 

 thick and heavy iu both shoulders and 

 hams; well let down in the twist; bristles 

 and long curly hair, with rather short, 

 strong legs. Their meat was better mar- 

 bbd than that of any other breed of 

 swine in Great Britain — that is, had a 

 greater proportion of lean freely inter- 

 mixed with fine streaks of fat, which 

 makes it much more tender and juicy 

 than it would otherwise be. They were 

 consequently, from time immemorial, 

 preferred to all other swine there for 

 choice hams, shoulders and bacon. They 

 were slow feeders, and did not ordinarily 

 mature till two and a halt or three years 

 old. 



It is thus that I find the Berkshire hog 

 figured and described in the earliest Eng- 

 lish publications to which I have been 

 able, thus far, to obtain access. But in 

 the second volume of the magniflceut 

 folio edition, illustrated with colored 

 plates, now lying before me, of "The 

 Breeds of the Domestic Animals of the 

 British Islands," by Professor David 

 Low, published in London, in 1842, is a 

 portrait of a Berkshire as I have de- 

 scribed above, except being of rounder 

 body and somewhat finer iu all his 

 points, with ears like most of those of 

 modern breeding, medium in size, and 

 erect instead of flopping. This portrait 

 is of a saudy or rt-ddish-brown color, 

 8p.)tted with black; the feet and legs for 

 ni-arly their whole length, white, slightly 

 streaked on the sides .and behind witii 

 reddish-brown. It, of coarse, represents 

 one of the old breed considerably im- 

 proved, and marked, as I occasionally 

 found them in all my visits to Berkshire, 

 down to lH7(i. But Ih..' jiigs which I saw 

 thus marked were of the same size and 

 shape, and as fine in all their points, as 



the general run of the black, slate, or 

 phim colors of the present day. 



rOEMATION OF THE IMPEOTED BEEKSHIKE 

 SWINE. 



Tradition tells us that this was made 

 by a cross of the black or deep plum- 

 colored Siamese boar on the old unim- 

 proved Berkshire sows. Other traditions 

 assert that the black and white spotted, 

 and even pure white Chinese boar was 

 also sparingly used to assist in the same 

 purpose. I can well believe this; for I 

 often saw swine in Berkshire spotted, 

 about half and half black and white, in 

 addition to the reddish-brown, or dufl' 

 and black, and so on almost up to a pure 

 plum color or black. The produce of 

 the above cro.ss or crosses was next bred 

 together, and by judicious subsequent 

 selections, the imjjroved breed, as we 

 now find it, became, in due time, fixed 

 and permanent in all its desirable points. 



Another feature, aside from the half 

 and half black and white spots hitherto 

 occasionally found to mark the improved 

 Berkshire swine, which may be adduced 

 in support of the supposition of a spar- 

 ing cross with the white and light-spot- 

 ted Chinese, is the shape of the jowls. 

 All those which I have bred in my pig- 

 gery, or imported at diSerent times direct 

 from China, or have seen elsewhere, had 

 much fuller and fatter jowls than the 

 Siamese. Some of the breeders in Eng- 

 land preferred the fat jowls, because 

 carrying the most meat; others the leaner 

 as they said this gave their stock a finer 

 and higher-bred look in the head. 



THE SIAMESE SWINE. 



In the same volume of Professor Low 

 which contains the Berkshire jjortrait as 

 described above, is a colored plate of a 

 Siamese sow. She is a dark slate, vary- 

 ing to that of a rich plum color. The 

 two hind feet are white; the fore legs and 

 feet white, shaded in front with plum. 

 The face is dished; head tine, with short 

 erect ears; shoulders and hams extra 

 large; back broad, with a deep round 

 and longish body. This sow is represent- 

 ed with a slightly swayed or hollow back, 

 at which we need not wonder, consider- 

 ing its length, and that she has a litter 

 of nine great, fat pigs tugging away at 

 her dugs. These Professor Low says 

 were got by a half-breed Chinese boar, 

 which I presume, from the color of the 

 pigs, was white; for some of them were 

 pure white, while others are mixed slate 

 or plum and white, and one is a buff, 

 with black spots, like the original Berk- 

 shire. 



I will now describe the Siamese swine, 

 such as I possessed and bred for several 

 years on my own farm. They varied in 

 color from deep rich plum to dark slate 

 and black; had two to three white feet, 

 but no white on the legs or other parts 

 of the body. The head was short and 

 fine, with a dished face, and rather thin 

 jowls; ears short, slender and erect; 

 shoulders and hams round, smooth and 

 extra large; back broail and somewhat 

 arched, except in sows heavy with pig or 

 suckling pigs, but even then it was 

 straight rather than swayed; body of 

 moderate length, deep, well ribbed up, 

 and nearly as round as a barrel ; chest 

 deep and broad; twist well let down; legs 

 tine and short; tail very slender and well 

 set, with a handsome curl in it near the 

 rump; hair soft, silky aud thin; no bris- 

 tles even on the boars; skin thin and of 

 a dark hue, yet when scalded, scraped 

 white; flesh firm, sweet and very tender, 

 with less lean than in the Berkshire. Al- 

 though so compact, round and smooth 

 m build, they had a fine, high-bred, up- 

 headed style, especiully in their walk, 

 which instantly attracted the attention of 

 all who called to see them. They were 



moderately prolific, and hardy as any 

 other breed of swine I ever kept— the ex- 

 tremes of heat and cold never injuring 

 them. They were gentle in disposition, 

 very quiet, and easily kept, and would 

 partially fatten on good pasture, or coarse 

 raw vegetables. They could be made fit 

 for the butcher at any age; matured at 12 

 to 1.5 months old ; and when fully fat- 

 tened, generally weighed from 250 to 300 

 pounds, and occasionally going to 350. or 

 even 400 pounds. They had very fine 

 bones and light oft'al. 



It was, doubtless, with Siamese boars 

 as perfect as I have here described, that 

 the cross was made on the original Berk- 

 shire sows, which has contributed so 

 largely to the formation of the improved 

 breed, held in such high estimation for a 

 full century or more past. 



WHEN WAS THE CBOSS MADE? 



Several aged men in different parts of 

 Berkshire, of whom I inquired on my 

 first visit to England, in 1841, informed 

 me that they had known there improved 

 swine of the same type as I then found 

 them, from earliest childhood. But the 

 most particular, and apparently reliable 

 account I was able to obtain, was from 

 Mr. Westbrook, of Pinckuey Green, By- 

 sham, who told me that his father pos- 

 sessed them as early as the year 1780, in 

 as great perfection as the best then ex- 

 isting in the country. Thus it will be 

 seen that the improvement is now at 

 least a century old, and more probably a 

 century and a quarter; for it would have 

 taken some years back of 1780 to begin a 

 new breed of swiue, and get it up to a 

 fixed type at that period. 



CHAKACTEEISTICS OF THE BEST IMPROVED 

 EEEKSHIEE SWINE AT THIS TIME. 



Snout and head fine and rather short, 

 but larger in proportion to the body in 

 the male than in the female, and with a 

 bolder and more determined expression; 

 face dished aud broad between the eyes; 

 jowls full or thinner, according to the 

 fancy of the breeder; eyes bright and ex- 

 pressive; ears small, thin and upright, or 

 inclining their points a little forward; 

 neck short, rather full iu the throat, and 

 harmoniously swelling to the shoulders; 

 chest broad and deep; back broad and 

 moderately arched; rump nearly level 

 with it; well let down in the twist; body 

 of good length and depth, round with 

 well sprung ribs, and straight along the 

 sides and under the belly ; shoulders, 

 above all, in the boar, extra thick, yet 

 sloping smoothly to the body; hams 

 broad, round, deep, and so thick through 

 from side to side, particularly in the sow 

 and barrow, that, standing diredtly be- 

 hind, except when pretty fat, the sides 

 of the body are scarcely seen between 

 them and the shoulders; legs fine.strong, 

 of moderate length, and set rather wide 

 apart; feet small, with clear, tough hoofs; 

 tail slender and well set, with handsome 

 curl near the rump; bones tine and of an 

 ivory-like grain and hardness; oft'al very 

 light in comparison to weight of carcass; 

 hair fine, soft and silky; no bristles, even 

 on the boar; skin thin and mellow, with 

 elastic handling of the flesh beneath; 

 quick and spirited in movement; stylish 

 in carriage, and, in the boar more espe- 

 cially, b(dd and imposing in presence. — 

 From AUeri's I'rUe Fssay. 



^tttamolojial 



The July number of the Califoenia 

 Agricdltueist is on our table. In 

 amount, variety and quality of matter, 

 indicated by its title, it has no equal on 

 this coast. Cal. AoBictiLTURi.sT Pub. 

 Co, San Jose— $1 50 per annum. — Cas- 

 trocille Argils. 



Don't burn your straw. Stack it. 



Combatins Insect Foes. 



kP 



f' EOF. F. H. SNOW, of the State 

 > University of Kansas, tells us how 

 he would make war against nox- • 

 lous insects; in one one of his late 

 educational lectures. He suggests 

 that it should commence with — 



1. Legislation to compel every man to 

 keep his grounds free from insect pests. 

 No one has a right to foster noxious 

 agencies for the destruction of his neigh- 

 bor's crops and fruit. 



2. A bounty might be offered in cer- 

 tain cases, by the county. State or Gen- 

 eral Government, for the capture of 

 injurious insects. A reward of twenty- 

 five cents a bushel for locusts during our 

 recent visitation by this scourge would 

 doubtless have prevented a large portion 

 of the damage inflicted. Such a reward 

 would certainly be as legitimate as the 

 customary bounty for gopher skins. 



3. The introduction of parasites should 

 be undertaken by the General Govern- 

 ment. Many of our most destructive in- 

 sects have been introduced from Europe. 

 In the Old Country they have many par- 

 asites to keep them in check, but as yet 

 few of these parasites have made their 

 way to this country, so that our foreign 

 foes have proved most destructive on ac- 

 count of the absence of their natural 

 checks. That the plan proposed is a 

 feasible one has been proved by Dr. Le 

 Baron, the Illinois State Entomologist, 

 who has successfully introduced into 

 northern Illinois a parasite upon the ap- 

 ple bark, louse. 



4. Every State in the Union should 

 employ a competent man as state ento- 

 mologist, who should give his whole 

 time to the work of investigating the hab- 

 its of insects, and disseminating infor- 

 mation among the people. Messrs. 

 Fitch, Eiley aud Le Baron have saved 

 millions of dollars to the great States of 

 New York, Missouri and Illinois, by 

 their indefatigable entomological labors. 

 The salaries paid to these men have been 

 a thousand-fold returned to the States 

 employing them. 



5. The legal protection of insectivor- 

 ous birds. A commis.sion should be ap- 

 pointed to determine what birds are en- 

 titled to this protection. 



G. The plan proposed for the appoint- 

 ment of a national commission for the 

 prevention of the national calamities oc- 

 casioned by insects is worthy of indorse- 

 ment by every farmer and fruit-grower 

 in the land. The petition to Congress 

 for such a commission should receive 

 universal signature. 



7. I would finally suggest that if our 

 people were more generally familiar with 

 the subject of entomology, and were able 

 to distinguish between the beneficial and 

 injurious species of insects, our univer- 

 sal enemies would be more intelligently 

 and effectually resisted. To this end I 

 would earnestly recommend the intro- 

 duction into our schools of the elements 

 of this extremely practical stience. In- 

 dependently of the education.al advan- 

 tages of natural history studies, the 

 "practical" value of a knowledge of 

 plants and insects should forcibly com- 

 mend botany and entomology to those 

 who determine the course of training iu 

 our common schools. It our children 

 were taught to distinguish between their 

 friends and foes in the insect world, a 

 large proportion of the annual loss en- 

 tailed upon us through ignorance would 

 undoubtedly be prevented. And since 

 the majority of those who attend our 

 public schools will be connected for life 

 with the pursuits of agriculture and hor- 



