178 



rARMIiJRS' REGISTER. 



[No. 3 



equal economy, and of such perlect qualilitj' as 

 (roin these. It is the breeil slightly mixed with 

 some other, that I would always select Tor the 

 purposes of my own farm, and I feel warranted 

 m sayiniT, without fear ot" contradiction, that a 

 cross of the China is the most valuable of any 

 other in the country for economical pork-making. 



With all their perlections they arc objected lo 

 by some ; and entire frankness in the matter de- 

 mands that their ol'iections should be noticed. The 

 first of these is, their want of size. That has 

 been already stated. It is not an objection in my 

 view. If they had louirer legs, which would spoil 

 them, this objection would not be so apparent. 

 Others object to their lack of hardihood and want 

 of constitution. If an entire absence of hog-like 

 ferocity, and the greatest amenity of disposition 

 of which the animal is susceptible, together with 

 the love of a warm and snug shelter in the incle- 

 ment season, instead ol" a wild burrow in a fallen 

 tree tob, or an ability to burglar itself into luxury 

 at any sacrifice to its owner or his neighbor, be 

 faults, then truly have the Chitia jiiirs most grie- 

 vous ones; lor they love a shelter and a home in 

 winter ; and it is dangerous to life for their young 

 to come into this breathing world in very cold 

 weather — the first of April to the first of INlay 

 being early enough for a litter of flill bred China 

 pigs to see the light. I know of no 'other vices 

 with which they may be charged, unless it be 

 ihc lack of bristles, and a total aversion to run, or 

 to jump a li;nce. even two feet high, or to be ra- 

 pidly driven. The sovvs are universally good and 

 careful nui^es, having from six to nine pigs, rare- 

 ly ten at a birth ; which, if decently fed, they 

 raise with abundant ease. Indeed, I know of no 

 favU with the pure improved Cliina /tog: and 

 still I consider ihc.m with all their good qualities, 

 in their purity, not exactly the animal lor the pork- 

 makiuir farmer. Were I to direct him what to 

 do to raise his breed ol" hogs to the greatest pitch 

 of excellence, I would say — no matter what his 

 breed may now be, if not of the approved vari- 

 eties — in the northern states, where his stock is 

 fed in pens, with ground or cooked food — " Cross 

 your stock with China, and keep crossing it, no 

 matter how high, until they fail in size or vigor, 

 and then go to the Berkshire or something else ; 

 but still let the main ingredient, of the animal be 

 China blood." The continual tendency of hogs, 

 as of most other animals is, without great care, to 

 deteriorate ; to grow coarse and wasty ; and I 

 know of no cross which so readily brings tliem 

 back into snug and correct proportions as the 

 China. 



I have had various crosses of these upon other 

 breeds of switie, and I have never known an in- 

 stance where they were not improved by the China 

 blood. The size of the crossed China is large : 

 frequently double that of the pure blood, varying 

 from three to four hundred pounds at eighteen 

 months old, and always excellent. Kven in the 

 first cross upon the wild-woods hog, the produce 

 is astonishingly altered, and the second makes an 

 admirable animal, with great constitution and 

 hardihood, accompanied by the quiet disposition 

 and fattening propensities of the parent China. 

 More need not be said in praise of the China hog. 

 Since I first obtained them, by judicious selections, 

 they have been continually improving in their ap- 

 pearance and good qualities; and I learle^ily chal- 



lenge the country for finer specimens of Chinese 

 swine than can be shown from my iijrmer stock, 

 now at jMr. A.'s farm. 



If I have placed the China pig/irsf in estima- 

 tion, it is because I think him better fitted than 

 any other to impron\ as a first cross, the condi- 

 tion of our country swine generally ; but for some 

 purposes and in the o|)inion of many of our lar- 

 mers, particularly the large grazing and pork 

 feeders of the west, the Berkshire hog possesses 

 properties of far greater attraction. In the de- 

 scription of this animal, I shall claim li)r him no 

 refinement ot character, or particular placidity of 

 temper; lor, so ihv as I have been acquainted, he 

 is as much of a hog as any other variety within 

 my knowledge. These have been so oiten and 

 so well described and figured in the agricultural 

 papers by my friend Bemiokt, of Albany, Avho 

 has a large herd ot them, that my account will be 

 a short one. Their main properties are, larger 

 size, weighing from three to five hundred pounds 

 at eighteen months and two years old ; and at a 

 nmcii earlier age I should not think they would 

 so profitably liitteu ; great vigor, constitution, and 

 muscular action ; but withal, an apitude and quick- 

 ness to latien rarely equalled in most other large 

 breeds; extraordinary length of body; breadth of 

 carcass ; light ofi'al ; large, well shaped ham ; and 

 in fine an excellent pork-hog. They are a dark- 

 er spotted than the China, being in most cases 

 nearl}' black, hut whhout bristles, or with very 

 slight ones. The sows are prolific breeders, hav- 

 ing from eight to fifteen pigs at a birth. They 

 have the usually ravenous disposition and cha- 

 racter of" the couHuon hog, sometimes devouring 

 not only their own young, but whatever other 

 lt?eble and inolfensive small animals may come 

 within their reach. They are good nurses, and 

 a sucking Berkshire pig can rarely be excelled in 

 beauty by any creature of the kind. They are 

 strong, and coarse feeders; exceedinglj^ hardy; 

 good travellers (a desirable quality tor the wes- 

 tern country, where the farmer drives his fat hogs 

 to market instead of butchering them at home;) 

 are remarkably well calculated to Ibllow fiittening 

 cattle through the corn-fields, and to thrive on 

 roots and coarse grains. They have obtained 

 extensive celebrity on account of their great size, 

 and other good qualities, and are, beyond ques- 

 tion, with those who desire extraordinary large, 

 as well as fine animals, the best pure blooded 

 swhie in the country. They have an increasing 

 popularity ; are soKI in many instances at enormous 

 prices, and will probably be multiplied, as they 

 ought to be, throughout "the Cnited States. 



Yet good as are these animals, they can be 

 much improved by a cross of the China. They 

 are antipodes in character and disposition; but 

 each possessing excellencies of a peculiar and de- 

 sirable kind, and when mingled with a cross of 

 the Berkshire boar and China sow, the produce is 

 the most perfect that the swine famil)', numerous 

 as it is, can boast. I have had them, and have 

 seen them elsewhere extensively crossed, and al- 

 ways with entire success. To the China is ad- 

 ded, sise, vigor, hardihood, and length of carcass; 

 and to the Berkshire, docility, quietude of habit 

 and disposition, delicacy of bone, limb and muscle, 

 and a remarkable propensity to flitten — in fine, 

 the best hog in the world ! I never have yet wit- 

 nessed such beautiful specimens uf the swine 



