174 BREED HISTORIES 



every part of England, and some places in Scotland. They are in 

 general reddish-brown, with black spots upon them, large ears, 

 hanging over their eyes, short-legged, small-boned, and exceedingly 

 inclined to make fat easily." 



Culley also testifies to the large weight of the breed, and men- 

 tions animals weighing well over 1,100 pounds. Surely the fore- 

 going description does not fit the present-day Berkshire. 



Early Improvement. The early improvement of the Berkshire 

 was undoubtedly due to the .refining influence of a generous intro- 

 duction of Chinese, Siamese and Neopolitan blood. In 1842 Prof. 

 Low wrote as follows: 



"The Berkshire breed has, like every other, been crossed and 

 recrossed with the Chinese, or Chinese crosses, so .as to lessen the 

 size of the animals, and render them more suited to the demand 

 which has arisen for small and delicate pork." 



In 1830, according to Youatt, the Berkshire was still classed as 

 a larger hog, sandy or whitish-brown in color, spotted regularly 

 with dark-brown or black, the body covered with long thin, soft 

 hair (sometimes curly), and free from bristles. The ears were erect 

 and fringed with long hair, the head and snout short, body thick 

 and compact, legs short, skin thin and bacon of superior quality. 

 At this period we see a long step in the line of improvement, but we 

 of today would scarcely call such an animal a Berkshire. At that 

 period (1830) it was regarded as "one of the best breeds in 

 England." 



Pioneer Breeders. In my opinion it is to Heber Humfrey of 

 England, J. C. Snell of Ontario and N. H. Gentry of Missouri to 

 whom the greatest credit must be accorded in the later develop- 

 ment of the modern Berkshire, and it is due to the constructive 

 ability and persistent enterprise of these men that the type of the 

 breed has become fully established and recognized throughout the 

 world. Berkshires were first brought to America in 1823, accord- 

 ing to A. B. Allen of New York. Mr. Allen was an admirer of the 

 breed, and did much to encourage its early popularity in this coun- 

 try. In 1841 he himself imported 41 head, after personally inspect- 

 ing many of the British herds, and subsequently made other impor- 

 tations. 



Commencing about 1840, many Berkshires found their way into 

 Ohio, where they became popular in the great Miami Valley in the 

 vicinity of Cincinnati, at that time the greatest corn and hog-pro- 

 ducing section of the United States. The breed's popularity con- 

 tinued to increase until about the time of the Civil War, when 

 breeders, for some unaccountable reason, allowed their herds to 

 degenerate, so that at the begining of about 1870 but few good 

 representative specimens were available in this country. It was 

 approximately in this period that John Snell of Canada imported 

 his first "English Berkshires," and they soon attracted the atten- 

 tion of N. H. Gentry, who, then a young man, went to Canada and 

 brought home a. number of the best individuals from the Snell herd. 

 It was early in the 70 's that T. S. Cooper of Pennsylvania imported 

 a number of choice Berkshires from England, and it was "Cooper 



