264 RURAL CALIFORNIA 



at the San Joaquin Fair of 1861 : "The 46 hogs of 

 pure breeds, Essex, Suffolk, Berkshire, and Chester- 

 White, exceeded all previous exhibitions in the State ; 

 indeed, could hardly be surpassed even in old Eng- 

 land/ 3 



It was war time in 1861 and patriotism reached 

 even to pigs, for J. D. Patterson of Alameda County 

 exhibited : "Union Pigs, a new breed, product of an 

 Essex boar and a Leicester sow, three months old 

 and looking well/' It was quite the habit of the 

 time to cross the breeds and expect much from it, 

 which, of course, was not realized. 



It is interesting to note that the color question 

 in breeds arose very early. In 1860, Carey Peebles of 

 Santa Clara, who had pure-bred Suffolks, Berkshires 

 and Essex, and was hogging-off grain with them, said 

 that "the Suffolks are most profitable in the pen but 

 they suffer when allowed to graze. On account of 

 their thin hair they get sun-burned and have a mangy 

 appearance/' This decision against the white hogs 

 is frequently repeated in subsequent records. 



Out of the contest of the many breeds cited above, 

 the Berkshire and Essex emerged as victors, in part 

 on account of color, and later the Berkshire dis- 

 tanced the Essex largely because of superior size and 

 range quality. Thus the Berkshire survived as 

 champion over all the breeds introduced with it in 

 1853, most of which were utterly forgotten. Keep- 

 ing pace with the development of the breed at the 

 East and in England by scores of large importations 

 by different breeders, the Berkshire armed itself for 



