PART III 



BREED HISTORIES 

 CHAPTER I 



THE BERKSHIRE 



By H. T. MORGAN 



Most authors take the position that the Berkshire is the oldest 

 of the existing breeds of swine, and while its ancestry is somewhat 

 obscured in antiquity I doubt whether it has a rightful claim to the 

 title of being the oldest of the present-day breeds. Prior to about 

 1850 the Berkshire was not much like the pig of that name that we 

 recognize today as the "aristocrat of the swine breed." Indeed it 



A Grand Champion Berkshire Boar 



was not until a number of years after 1850 that the black color, 

 with "six white points," became well established, or "fixed" as a 

 breed characteristic. During the past few years the writer has 

 given a considerable amount of time and study to the work of 

 compiling a history of Berkshires, and in his research has traveled 

 some thousands of miles in visiting the older breeders in various 

 parts of the United States. I have had much correspondence with 

 breeders of Berkshires in England and Canada, and have had, I 

 believe, access to most of the historical matter pertaining to the sub- 

 ject on file in our large public libraries. Everybody knows that the 

 native home of the Berkshire is in England, where it is supposed 

 to have been developed as a breed in the counties of Berkshire and 

 Wilts in the south-central part. Other neighboring counties were 

 also prominently associated with the development of the breed. 

 Back in 1789 Culley, a historian of note, wrote as follows : 



"The most noted breed of hogs in this Island is that excellent 

 kind generally known as Berkshire pigs, now spread through almost 



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