SwINE. 103 
to all accounts, it deserves to be. A correspondent of the Coun- 
try Gentleman gives the following account of the Chester hog: 
“The Chester hog is the result of continued careful breeding 
and judicious crossing in this county during the last thirty-five 
or forty years. The first impulse to this improvement, it is 
said, was the importation of a pair of handsome hogs from 
China, some forty years since, by a sea-captain then residing in 
this vicinity. Of late years, however, many of our breeders 
have been laboring to bring the Chester hog up to an acknow]- 
edged standard of excellence—to define its points, and make it 
as distinctive in character, and as easily recognized, as a Berk- 
shire or Suffolk. Their efforts, we think, have been successful. 
“The genuine Chester is a pure white, long body and square 
built, with small, fine bone, and will produce a greater weight 
of pork, for the amount of food consumed, than any other breed 
yet tried among us. <A very important characteristic of the 
breed is, that it will readily fatten at any age. Many hogs, it 
is well known, will not fatten while they are growing, or until 
they have reached their full size. 
“The average weight of the Chester stock, at sixteen months 
old, is from 500 to 600 lbs., and when kept till two years old, 
they frequently run up to 700 and 800 lbs. Our spring pigs, 
when killed the following fall, weigh from 300 to 400 lbs, 
which is considered the most desirable weight for pork—pro- 
ducing hams of a more salable size and better quality. Asa 
general rule, our farmers do not care to have their hogs weigh 
over 350 to 400 Ibs. To reach this weight at nine months old, 
our hogs, of course, must be well fed. The Chester is not dif- 
erent from other stock in this respect—to thrive well, it must 
be well taken care of. 
“Experiments have been made in crossing the Chester with 
other breeds—such as the Berkshire, Suffolk, etc., and the re 
sult has been an inferior stock to the pure Chester. It does 
improve the Berkshires to cross them with the Chester, but 
we have found no advantage in crossing the Chester with any 
other.” 
