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 vs^hich 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, ISTew 

 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 



