180 



A YEAR IN AGRICULTURE 



some wild relatives of the domestic hog. It seems that the 

 hog and his relatives came originally from southeastern Asia, 

 and that we are indebted to the Chinese for our swine. The 



FIG 26. A WELL BRED FAMILY 



European breeders improved their early Chinese hogs by 

 crossing them with the large wild boars of western Europe. 

 In this way the English Berkshire breed was formed. The 

 English took the lead in developing the domestic hog as they 

 did in improving cattle. The Indians had no hogs, but when 

 the European settlers found that Indian corn made excellent 

 feed for hogs, they had them sent over from England. Thus 

 the hog and corn developed rapidly together in America, 

 and the fat type of swine was produced. Among the first 

 to breed and develop swine in America were the Dutch farm- 

 ers of Chester County, Pennsylvania; they developed the 

 Chester Whites, the first breed of American hog. As the 

 country became settled westward, the counties in southern 



