SWINE AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 933 



Berkshires (which could occasionally be found with all the char- 

 acteristics of the pure breed), and the Essex; and in my judg- 

 ment many of the best qualities of some of our modern breeds 

 can be traced back to these breeds, and particularly to the 

 Berkshire. 



Hogs were of all colors, from jet black to pure white, with 

 all varieties of spots, with many red, and some blue and fawn 

 color. The difficulties in the way of improving the breeds, or 

 of keeping a breed pure, were well-nigh insurmountable. To 

 begin with, there was no way of transporting hogs from the 

 East except by wagon or on foot. There were few breeders 

 who had improved hogs for sale, and fewer agricultural papers 

 to advertise them in. Postage on a single letter, till later than 

 1840, was twenty-five cents; and it will be readily seen (hat 

 few farmers could afford to import breeding stock. There was 

 still another obstacle, which was the difficulty of keeping the 

 stock pure ; for the woods were full of boars, many of them 

 old. tough fellows, with a snout equal to a steam-shovel and the 

 muscular activity of a cat, and if a sow was in heat they would 

 find her, and no ordinary fence would keep them from her. 

 Besides, the hogs the farmers had suited them very well. Corn 

 was so cheap that it made but little difference whether it took 

 a few bushels more or less to fatten the hog, and it was doubt- 

 ful whether a new breed could winter on mast, fatten by "hog- 

 ging down" a half-acre of corn, and then walk to market; and 

 so there seemed little call for improvement, and few efforts 

 were made in that direction. 



With the advent of the railroads to transport the hog to 

 market there came a demand for a better breed of hogs ; and 

 the present generation has seen many changes in all that per- 

 tains to the management of the hog and its products. Now 

 our hogs are bred with so small bone, and such a tendency to 

 develop fat, that they are usually wagoned the mile or two nec- 

 essary to reach the station from which they are shipped. The 

 packing season does not depend on cold weather, but extends 

 by the use of ice through the year. The farmer does not wait 

 till winter, and then drive to a distant city ; but there is a cash 



