BERKSHIRE SWINE. 201 



the average farm. I have bred the Cheshire, Poland-China and 

 Chester White hogs. All these breeds have large bone and a great 

 deal of offal, and I found that they were not profitable and abandoned 

 them. I then imported the White Suffolks, which produced more 

 fat than any other hog I ever raised. They are small in the bone, 

 with little offal, and are quiet and easy keepers, while the Chester 

 Whites seem to be always looking for more feed, and are never con- 

 tent, and do not mature until two or three years old, and then their 

 meat brings in our markets two or three cents per pound less than 

 the Suffolks. I next imported Berkshires, in 1862. These were 



BERKSHIBE PIG. 



found to be better than any kind previously tried. They are easy 

 keepers, make much lean meat with the fat, and mature early. 

 I have often had them weigh, when dressed, 250 pounds at eight 

 months old. Their hams and shoulders, when properly cured, find a 

 ready market in all large cities, and are of such superior quality that 

 private purchasers often order them from our farmers here six 

 months in advance. I have made importations, about once a year, of 

 prize Berkshires from England. In 1869 I imported fourteen hogs, a 

 few of which I sold, to go to Missouri, for $600 each. They were 

 exhibited at the great Pork Packers' Exhibition, at St. Louis in 1872, 

 I think it was where there were some sixteen hundred entries of all 

 breeds, from Europe, Canada and the United States, and these, with 

 their progeny, took the first prize on boar and sow; first and second 

 prizes on sow and litter of pigs; first prize on hogs under a year old, 

 and prize on pigs under six months old. I mention these facts to 

 show the superiority of the breed, because these animals were brought 

 into competition with others of all breeds, and of course with the best 

 specimens of them which could be procured. The Berkshire is black 



