CHAPTER III 



THE CHESTER WHITE 



As the earliest swine writers make no mention of a native Amer- 

 ican hog, and as the Chester White breed is an American product, 

 it follows that we must look for the source of the origin of the 

 breed to the progeny of swine that were brought over from the 

 European countries by the earliest settlers in America. An analysis 

 of the common stock, as found in New England and Pennsylvania, 



A Prize Winning Chester White Sow 



early in the nineteenth century, from which stock the breed evi- 

 dently had its origin, shows that they possessed the characteristics 

 of the early English white breeds, as the Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and 

 Cheshire. Authors agree as to the English origin of the Yorkshire 

 and Lincolnshire, but as to the origin of the Cheshire opinions dif- 

 fer. Be that as it may, the origin of the large white hog as found 

 in Chester Co., Pa., early in the nineteenth century is partly accred- 

 ited to the blood of the Cheshire hog. These Pennsylvania hogs 

 were white, very large, bony, coarse, muscular and only showed 

 good feeding qualities when matured, or nearly so. Some of them 

 dressed over 1,000 pounds. 



Early Improvement. The first impulse toward the most suc- 

 cessful improvement of these large hogs is accredited to Capt. James 

 Jeffries, who introduced a pair of fine white pigs, known as the 

 Woburn, from Bedfordshire, England, and located them on his 

 farm in Chester Co., Pa., in 1818. The Woburn was of the smaller, 



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