48 



BREEDS OF SWINE 



boars; . . . flcsli firm, sweet, and very tender, with less lean 

 tliaii till' Berkshire."' 



A ])rced such as the Siamese, here descrilxMl, was well 

 qualihed to iiiijirove a coarse hreed like the old Berkshire, 

 ]\fr. Allen favors the theory that Chinese hlood was also 

 used, and, from his investigations in England, fixes the com- 



Fio. l.j. — Chaiiijjiun Berkshire boar. Iowa State Fair. 



mencement of improvement in the Berkshire by crossing as 

 some lime previous to 17S0. 



Eiirlji hnporiatioiiK. — Allen states that Berkshires were 

 fii-st imported to America in 182?) by Jnhn Brentnall of New 

 Jersey. The first ini]iortation to Canada is said tn have lieen 

 made in ]8oS. F. J). C'dlnmi states that for ten years subsc- 

 (juent to 1831 tliere was active specidatidii in im])iu'ting Berk- 



