CHAPTER V. 



THE BERKSHIRE BREED. 



Description. The Berkshire is an attractive animal in 

 appearance, and is rather above medium size, though, as a 

 breed, it scarcely equals the Yorkshire and Tamworth in size. 

 The face is moderately dished, the snout medium in length, 

 the jowl full and rather heavy, and the neck short, with con- 

 siderable crest. The ears should be firmly attached to the head, 

 and are usually erect, though they frequently incline forward 

 in aged animals. The breed generally has good width of 

 shoulder, a broad back resulting from a well-sprung rib, and 

 good thickness through the rump and hams. The Berkshire 

 is noted for a thickly mealed, trim ham. In general, it has 

 good depth of body; and should possess a deep, wide chest, 

 with a full heart-girth. In the best representatives of the 

 breed, the bone is all that could be desired, being strong and 

 clean, and the animal generally stands well on its feet. 



The standard color is black, with white markings in the 

 face, on each foot, and on the tip of the tail. (Figs. 13, 14, 15.) 

 A small splash of white on the arm is not objected to ; but when 

 the white is too freely distributed, such as a white blotch on 

 the jowl, shoulder, or other part of the body, it is an objection, 

 in the eyes of most breeders. Occasionally some of the standard 

 white markings are missing, such as the white on the tip of 

 the tail, on one or more of the feet, or the white mark on the 

 face, and the absence of any of these markings would also 

 constitute an objection. The standard of excellence of the 

 American Berkshire Association says nothing about disqualify- 

 ing an animal for defective markings, so that each breeder 



(45) 



