THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



667 



MEDIUM-SIZED VS. LARGK HOGS. 



From tlic Wcslcrii Farmer. 



Mr. Editor, — You are aware thai I am now, 

 and have been ever since 1S20, exiensively en- 

 gaged in pork-packing in ihisciiy ; and 1 leel thai 1 

 may without presumjuiori lay claim to not a little 

 experience in the business. It is lully as mucli 'o 

 my interest, and that ol every one else engaged 

 in curii]g pork lor market, as the interest ol' the 

 farmer, that the very best breeds ol hogs should 

 be scattered over the country. 



When I first entered into it, the pork brought lo 

 us was produced Irom the same miserable race 

 yet to be lound through much the greater part ol 

 the West. Iijielded us little lard, and the sides 

 were unfit tor mess or clear pork — too thin, and 

 only fit for bacon. The first improvement we 

 had was the little chunky China hog — a perfect 

 mass of lard — hams light and too liit — though the 

 waste of offal was triflmg. The next we had was 

 the large Warren county hog, requiring years to 

 mature, and then coming to us of an enormous 

 weight — great waste of offal — the hams too large 

 and badly shaped, as was also tlie shoulder — and 

 the sides, nevertheless ol their great size, were 

 thin in proportion. They were still a great im- 

 provement. The crosses of these and tlie Russia 

 and Byfield, in the hands ol some of the more 

 judicious breeders, produced a very excellent hog j 

 — and vve who were the purchaseis, were anxious 

 for any improvement on the unprofitable wood 

 hogs usually raised. I 



Though, as 1 have reiriarked, so long engaged 

 in the business of" packing, I had paid but little] 

 attention to the breeding ol hogs, though always j 

 keeping a lijwofthe best I could find, on my farm, 

 and improving them to the best of my ability. 

 It was not until some of the pan-bred Berhshiies 

 were brought to us Irom Butler and Warren 

 counties, that I was struck with the great improve- 1 

 ment they were on any thing I had yet seen. 

 The perfect manner in which ihey were laiiened 

 — their extraordinary length of boJy, and the 

 thickness of the side meat — their small, yet thick, 

 fleshy shoulders — the great weight and handsome 

 form of their hams — the yreat yield of lard, and 

 little waste of offal, either of inside waste, or 

 head and bone, proved to me that they were a 

 something entirely difierent and altogether supe- 

 rior to any otlier breed within my knowledi^e. On 

 making lurther inquiry respecting them, I lound 

 them equally advantageous to the larmer and 

 drover, as to the pork-packer. Prolific and easily 

 kept ; maturing early and laiiening kindly to as 

 great weights as were desirable ; stamping their 

 own character strongly on any other breed with 

 which they might be crossed ; and travelling well 

 to any reasonably distant market. 



I had before this been breeding hogs for sale, 

 and seeing, at a glance, the great advantage it 

 was going to be to me in my packing business, to 

 have such a hog as the Berkshire in general use, 

 I at once engaged in it largely. 



True it is, that I cannot give up my farm, and 

 my attention and capital, to the breeding of fine 

 stock, without a prospect of making money by it ; 

 but tliat was the secondary object I had in view 

 — my poik-packins business was of the first im- 

 portance to me. I saw and dreaded the efiorts 

 that were made to introduce an extremely large 

 Vol. IX.-66 



hog into Kentucky, for I had about this time trans- 

 lerred my pork business lo that state, and had 

 gone to very great expense in erecting an exten- 

 sive estat)lishment back of Covington, and intend- 

 ed making my etitire purchases in the state. We 

 can make no use in this market ol animals weigh- 

 ing from 400 to (300 Ibd., even though they may be 

 well latted. A liogol the proper form and quality 

 of meat, that matures at ten or tvvelye moniho 

 old, BO as to liitten properly, and then weighs 

 from 200 to 300 lbs., is the sort lor which we will 

 give the iiighest price, because it yields us tlie 

 greatest profit. And most assuredly it will also 

 pay the larmer best. We have no population to 

 sujiply, that will consume larife, coarse, indiffer- 

 ently cured meat. Our principal demand is lor 

 city arid family use, both here and in the cities of 

 the south and east. The ham is with us the most 

 valuable part of tlie hog, and the celebrity of 

 those cured in Cincinnati is now great. This part 

 must be heavy without being large — round, thick 

 and plump ; the flesh, though principally lean, 

 yet marbled with fat. Next to the ham the lard 

 and side meat yield us the grea est return — the 

 former must he abundant in quantity and fine 

 grained, which never is the case with any liog 

 until he has somewhat matured ; the latter must 

 carry its thickness throughout, having no thin 

 flanky parts, and must be f'ai-~and last vve rank 

 the shoulderand thejowl. 



Many of the Boston and Richmond dealers, 

 and those from tfie otfier cities in the east and 

 south, come here annually to have tneat packed ; 

 they all prefer such a hog as I have described, and 

 will buy no oihor il tliey can help it. How the 

 drovers, who are represented as driving to Ricli- 

 mond and Charleston, and as preferring the largest 

 sized hogs, can possibly dispcise ol such ani- 

 mals there, I cannot understand. Nor how meat 

 of a size that I know from exptrence cannot be 

 cured, even with the aiti of cool cellars, here, can 

 be kept there, surprises me.. Think of a pair of 

 hams, Mr. Editor, wei<jrhiiig 148 lbs., in the cli- 

 mate of Charleston, or Richmond, or Baltimoie ! 

 They would indeed require to be cut in two — and 

 then what a sightly object ! 



Still some regions ofcouiitry may require a larger 

 hog than oihes ; and lo supply those who may 

 think so, Mr. A. B. Allen, now on his way to 

 England, will import lor me some of a size sufli- 

 cient to suit any taste. For my own part, and lor 

 my use lor packing, I want neither an extrava- 

 gantly large hog, nor yet a very small one. A 

 hog that has lo be fed I wo winters, never will pay 

 first cost ; if he can be had of sufficient size with- 

 out winlerintr at all, so much the more profit. A 

 spring pig killed in the lall at 200 lb?., net, will 

 evidently pay better than if the same hog had 

 been kept over winter, and reached the second fall 

 500 lbs., net. 



I have been speaking now as a pork-packer, 

 not as a breeder ; and what I have said, I say in 

 all sincerity. I have no desire lo injure the busi- 

 ness of any other breeder of improved hogs, nor 

 to prevent their continuing their improvements to 

 as high a point as they please. But I do regret 

 lo see gentlemen of science and expenencp going 

 back to a large, coarse hog, such as the Woburn, 

 Irish Grazier, or Leicester, when they can procure 

 a breed so infinitely superior— the unproved 

 Berkshire. John Maharu, Jr. 



