THE DUROC-JERSEY 709 



Red Berkshires of Connecticut, and the Red Rocks of Vermont, 

 as they were called, were of the same general type. Some system 

 in breeding was attempted, and in 1877 the breeders of Washing- 

 ton and Saratoga Counties in New York met and decided what 

 the characteristics of the best type of this red pig should be. This 

 standard, which was published in the agricultural press, was the 

 first thing of the kind printed regarding red pigs and was essen- 

 tially the one adopted by the National Swine Breeders' Conven- 

 tion at Indianapolis in 1872. In 1885 Colonel Curtis wrote that 

 the breeders of the so-called Red Berkshire and Red Rocks 

 cordially united with the New York men, and the Duroc-Jersey 

 standard was universally accepted by the best breeders of all the 

 red hogs of America. 



The improvement of the Duroc-Jersey began with the union of 

 the breeders' interests. It resulted in a pig of some less scale than 

 the Jersey Red, lacking its coarseness, having a better quality of 

 flesh, feeding easier, and maturing more readily at a younger age. 

 Instead of developing a big hog, one of medium scale was. re- 

 garded as preferable. The standard of the old type of Berkshire 

 closely resembled the Duroc-Jersey as late as 1880. Since then 

 the Berkshire has perhaps become more refined than before, 

 and for some time the Duroc-Jersey showed evidences of a simi- 

 lar improvement. However, realizing that much criticism was 

 being directed by swine raisers at excessive refinement, especially 

 in the case of the Poland-China, Duroc-Jersey breeders began 

 to emphasize size and bone, not losing sight of quality. This 

 improvement perhaps dates from the year 1900, since which time 

 the breed has made marked progress. In fact, no other breed as a 

 whole has made so pronounced improvement in recent years as 

 has the Duroc-Jersey. 



Characteristics of the Duroc-Jersey. The head is of medium 

 size, though with young boars it sometimes appears somewhat 

 long. The face is either straight or slightly dished, the nose of 

 medium size and length, and the forehead of fair width. Duroc 

 breeders emphasize large, well-placed eyes and clearness of vision. 

 The ears are of medium size, moderately thin, and, according to 

 the official scale of points, "pointing forward and downward and 

 slightly outward, carrying a slight curve." The fact is the ear 



