630 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



one in it, as long as the thread was suspended. ! 

 gel small saplings, as small as I can, (so that ihey 

 may give way to the \vind.'=,) aboul 15 to 16 feet 

 loniT. First drop them around the field at 50 or 

 60 yards' distance ; then I make holes with a 

 " stah," (or poinled stake,) so as to set the poles 

 firm in the ground. Then I wrap the thread 

 around the end of the first pole and set it up firm ; 

 go on to the next with my ball of twine, wrap it 

 around that, and so on throughout ; observing to 

 stretch the thread as tiyht as possible, in the first 

 instance, as it will swag very nmch al'ier a rain or 

 heavy dews. I give these flirections because I 

 believe, from experience, that it is necessary that 

 the thread should swas a little, so as to be kept in 

 motion by every slight breeze. 1 hope that many 

 will try it. James Lykcii. 



RE.-MAUKS ON DUTEREXT BREEDS OF HOGS. 



To tlic Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



or all the improved breeds of hogs infrodured 

 into this state, the E-^sex half-black pig, of Eng- 

 land, or as it is called here, the Skinner breed, and 

 the Berkshire, are the finest I have seen. The 

 Ibrmer were, I believe first introrjiiced by means 

 of an English farmer of reputation, who had been 

 present at various cattle shows in this country, 

 and on his return to England in 182.5, sent a pair 

 of them, ns better than any he had seen here, to 

 John S. Skinner, esq., then as now, editor oC the 

 An;erican Farmer, at Baliimore. It does not ap- 

 pear that he gave the name by whicdi they were 

 known in England. But Iromadrawing oCthe sow, 

 on page 372 of the Gih volume of the American 

 Farmer compared with drawinas of the Essex 

 half-black pig, in Dickson's Farmers' Compa- 

 nion, vol. ii., p. 898, and Mr. Western's sow, p. 

 286 of the Complete Grazier, edition of 1&3D, 

 the identity of the two breeds seems to be esta- 

 blished beyond a doubt. " The Essex half-black 

 pigs," says the Cotnplete Grazier, p. 236, " are 

 apparently descended from the Berkshire stock, 

 and may be reckoned among the finest breeds in 

 this country, [England.] They are black and 

 white, short-haired, fine skinned, smaller heads 

 and ears than the Berkshire, but the latter are 

 feathered with inside hair, which is a distinctive 

 mark of both ; short snubby noses, very fine bone, 

 broad n»u\ deep in the belly, lull in the hind quar- 

 ters, but light in the hone and oHal. Mr. \Ves:ern 

 describes them as feeding remarkably quick, grow- 

 ing fast, and of an excellent quality ol' meat, and 

 he considers them at least equal, upon a fair com- 

 parison of age, Ibod and weight, to any sort 

 whatever." 



This is an excellent cross upon other breeds, 

 and though the Complete Grazier is high authori- 

 ty, and 1 feel that it savors of presumption to 

 question its accuracy as to the fact that the E^=sex 

 half-black is descendeil from the Berkshire, yet an 

 inexperienced eye, comparing the drawings of the 

 two, in that work, with the Berk>hires we have 

 now, would inevitably conclude that the latter are 

 descendants of the (ormer, as they show all their 

 best points, in most of which fine points the Berk- 

 shires of 1807 appear to have been deficient. 



The Berkshires are certainly very fine hogs, 

 longer and larger 'than the Essex hali-'jiacks, but 



they may not do as well under the customary Vir- 

 ginia mode of raising and treating this valuable 

 animal. II they will, they are certainly to be pre- 

 ferred, generally; and as the demand for them 

 appears to be increasing in our stale, it i? import- 

 ant to us to know which are the true "'Simon 

 Pures," especially as difi'erences of opinion exist 

 in New York, whence our supplies are derived. 



In the 'Complete Grazier,' p. 285, will be found 

 a drawing of a pair of Berkshires "exhibited at 

 Lord Somerville's catile show in 1807, when they 

 attracted universal admiration.'" Now, the Berk- 

 shires of the present day (those at least that I 

 have seen) resemble this pair, as io form, about 

 as nearly as a mule refcmbles a horse — the ad- 

 vantage being greatljMn favor of the modern slock. 

 In the article which accompanies the plate, it is 

 staled that one of the specific characters of the 

 Berkshires in 1807 was a "reddish color with 

 brown or black spots." In Dickson's 'Farmers' 

 Companion,' vol. ii.. p. 897, they are described as 

 "Taivny or reddish color, spotted with black; 

 large ears, hanging over the eyes ; thick, close 

 and well made in the body; legs short; small in 

 the hone: disposition to fatten quickly," Low, in 

 his Practical Agriculture, which is probably the 

 latest authority, says, "The Berksliire was the 

 earliest of the improved breeds of England, and 

 is now the mo?l generally diffused of all oiheia. 

 It has been undoubtedly Ibrmed by a mixture of 

 the blood of the eastern hog wiih the ancient 

 swine of the country. The great improver of this 

 breed was Mr. Asiley of Oldsionehall. The mo- 

 dern Berkshire, however, is of less size than the 

 older breed; but still the animals are usually of 

 the larger class of swine. Their common color 

 is reddish brown, with dark spots ; but many of 

 the modern breed are nearly black, manifesiing 

 their near approach to tlie Siamese character; and 

 sometimes they are black, broken with white, in- 

 dicating the effects of the cross of the white Chi- 

 nese. The Berkshires are generally regarded as 

 one of the superior breeds of Eagland, combining 

 good size vviili aptitude to fatten, and their flesh is 

 fitted lljr perk or bacon." 



This last quoted article seems to settle the 

 amusing controversy in some of the northern 

 prints, as to white toes, white tails, &c., which 

 appear here to be fairly accounted for. I have 

 heard too, that a prevailing color in a parent slock, 

 which has been crossed, will sometimes disappear, 

 and then reappear in the progeny. There Is in 

 my possession a white sow, not a Berkshire, with 

 a litter of seven pigs by a Berkshire boar, xvhich 

 is black and white ; four of these pigs are per- 

 fectly white, the other three spotted-black, white 

 and tawny or reddish. 



The Hampshire hog I perceive is recommended 

 by a writer in the 'Cultivator,' whose letter is re- 

 published in the August number of the Register. 

 But from the following description from the 'Farm- 

 ers' Series of the Library of Useful Knowledge,' 

 vol. ii. Briiifh Husbandry, page 508, I should 

 tliink it would not suit us better, if so well, as the 

 Berkshires. "The Hampshire hog, of a wddte 

 color, has been long celebrated as lorming very 

 superior bacon ; but iis character has been ac- 

 quired more from i:s being fed, when j'oung, upon 

 (he mast which abounds in the New Forest, and 

 oiher wood-lands, and the mode of curing it, than 

 li-om any inherent excellence in the breed of its 



