THE BERKSHIRE BREED 49 
shires and selling them at inflated prices, and that the methods 
employed by speculators injured the popularity of the breed 
and retarded its progress. The real merit of the breed eventu- 
ally overcame the prejudice which had been created, and to-day 
the breed is very popular in both the United States and Canada. 
Distribution.—Berkshires are found in every state and ter- 
ritory of the United States, the most important centres being 
Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Texas, Ohio, Kansas, Iowa, New 
York, Michigan, and Tennessee. They are found also in every 
Canadian: province, Ontario taking the lead. They are dis 
tributed all over the British Isles, and have made their way 
into South America, Hawaii, and some countries on the 
European Continent. 
Types.—Berkshires vary more or less in type, the type 
being influenced to a considerable extent by the demands of the 
market in the countries where they are bred as well as by the 
methods of individual breeders. In the United States it is 
only natural to expect them to conform to the fat or lard 
type, and some breeders have gone rather to the extreme in 
breeding for fine bone, smoothness, and quality and neglecting 
size and fecundity. The best breeders, however, are succeed- 
ing in maintaining size and quality and in producing a really 
useful animal. 
In Canada the tendency is to select for a lengthy, strong- 
boned type, which looks somewhat coarse and leggy when 
compared with the extremely fine type, but which is a first- 
class farmer’s hog. The demand for the bacon type in Canada 
and competition with the bacon breeds have had an influence 
in bringing about this modification. (Fig. 16.) 
The so-called Large English Berkshire is not a distinct 
breed, nor is it necessarily a distinct family or branch of the 
breed. In England, as in any other country, the Berkshire 
4 
