218 



Berksliire HoS' 



Vol. IX. 



BERKSHIRE HOG. 



The above is a far better likeness of our Pennsylvania and Jersej' Berkshires, than 

 that which is found in our fifth volume, taken from Professor Low's celebrated Illustra- 

 tions of the breeds of Domestic Animals of the British Islands. It is indeed a represen- 

 tation of a noble grunter; a gentlemanly and portly sample of the breed. The hog has 

 the credit of being "a creature of gross habits and unclean tastes:" but really to our eye, 

 the engraving above conveys the idea of a cleanly and sensitive fellow, that would feel 

 himself scandalized at even the mention of a mud-puddle, but would enjoy with true epi- 

 curean zest, a score of years of corn, or a dish of well scalded mush. 



Low says, " the hog is subject to remarkable changes of form and character, according 

 to the situations in which he is placed. When these characters assume a certain degree 

 of permanence, a breed or variety is formed ; and there is none of the domestic animals 

 which more easily receive the characters we desire to impress upon them. This arises from 

 its rapid powers of increase, and the constancy with which the characters of the parents 

 are reproduced in the progeny. There is no kind of live stock that can be so easily im- 

 proved by the breeder, and so quickly rendered suited to the purposes required ; and the 

 same characters of external form, indicate in the hog a disposition to "arrive at early ma- 

 turity of muscle and fat as in the ox and sheep." The principal breeds of England have 

 been usually named after the particular counties or localities where they have been, for 

 the most part, reared. The Berkshire was one of the earliest improved 'of the English 

 breeds, and it is now the most widely distributed, as it is the most superior, says the Farm- 

 ers' Encyclopedia, of the numerous varieties in England: it has a disposition to fatten 

 quickly, and the pork and bacon are said to be very superior. This breed has widely 

 spread over the United States, and is certainly a grand improvement upon the "land 

 sharks" — the long legs and long faces which are still occasionally to be met with among 

 the natives. It never seemed to us that the hog was made for jumping ; and every farmer 

 who is troubled with this propensity in his porkers, may at once conclude that his breed, 

 or his corn-crib, or both are at fault, and the sooner he inquires among his neighbours for 

 the real Berkshire, the better. 



The wild boar, which was probably the progenitor of all the European vi^rieties, and 

 also of the Chinese breed, was formerly a native of the British Islands, and very common 

 in the forests until the time of the civil wars in England. 



The hog family includes several species — and of these it is said that the true hog was 

 not indigenous to America, but was brought over by the early adventurers from the old 

 world : no domestic animal is now more generally spread throughout the country, and 

 none, probably, does so much to satisfy our meat-eating population. 



