THE DUROC-JERSEY 707 



uniformly, the color usually being a dark red, although in some 



sections they were light sandy, and often "patched with white." 



The characteristics of the Jersey Red as agreed upon by the 



National Swine Breeders' Convention in 1872 were as follows: 



A good specimen of a Jersey Red should be red in color, with a snout of 

 moderate length, large lop ears, small head in proportion to size and length 

 of body. They should be long in the body, standing high and rangy on their 

 legs ; bone coarse, hairy tail and brush, and hair coarse, inclining to bristles on 

 the back. They are valuable on account of their size and strong constitution and 

 capacity for growth. They are not subject to mange. 



It is said 1 that the breed was first named Jersey Reds in 1857 

 by Joseph B. Lyman, then agricultural editor of the New York 

 Tribune. Previous to this period they had been commonly called 

 Red hogs and Durocs. 



In August, 1880, a writer in the National Live Stock Journal 

 refers to " Jersey Reds or Durocs " as sandy or yellowish-red hogs 

 with black spots, large of size, but not very uniform of appearance, 

 and probably mainly derived from some of the earlier importa- 

 tions of Berkshire swine of this color. " In fact they bear a close 

 resemblance, so far as they have a uniformity of type at all, to 

 the large Berkshire of fifty years ago." A letter received in 1913 

 from a man prominent in live-stock affairs in New Jersey contains 

 the following statement : 



There exists among certain swine growers a relative of the old Jersey Red 

 breed of swine. They are quite characteristic of the old type of hog that is 

 described as the predominating type of this breed, but unfortunately we do 

 not have very many breeders that have attempted to modernize and continually 

 improve the type. They are much smaller than the prevailing type in the corn 

 belt of the Duroc-Jerseys, evidence less quality and finish, are somewhat darker 

 in color, and require a longer feeding period than prevails generally in the 

 corn belt. 



The Duroc breed of red pigs is said to have been established by 

 Isaac Frink of Milton, Saratoga County, New York. In 1823 he 

 obtained a red boar pig from a litter of ten, the product of a pair 

 of red pigs purchased in 1822 by Harry Kelsey of Florida, New 

 York, from persons either at Oyster Bay, Queens County, New 



1 Robert J. Evans, History of the Duroc. Chicago, 1918. 



