768 SWINE 



Volume I of the herdbook states that when grown and well 

 fattened the hogs should show a dressed weight of from 400 

 to 600 pounds. That represents a heavy-weight hog. There 

 are said to be numerous instances on record of pigs dressing 

 over 400 pounds when nine months old. The Cheshire bar- 

 rows shown at the International Live-Stock Exposition in 1905 

 were a heavy-weight lot and gave no impression of being 

 of a small breed. One of these at eight and one-half months 

 weighed 353 pounds. The Cheshire is said to weigh heavy for 

 its size. Mr. A. H. Bates, once a prominent breeder of swine, 

 has the following to say in a letter which is quoted from the 

 " Cheshire Herdbook " : 



I find that buyers are not able to guess the weights of Cheshires. One lot 

 of thirteen culls I offered at 325 pounds each. The buyers thought theywould 

 not weigh over 300 pounds. They averaged 390 each. Another lot of twenty 

 culls I offered at ijo pounds average. They weighed 185I pounds on the 

 average. I have found it will not do to sell Cheshires by guess. 



The quality of Cheshire meat ranks high. Sanders, writing of 

 those he bred, stated that " their meat was most excellent, tender, 

 and juicy." Others have rendered similar testimony. The flesh is 

 fine grained and, with hogs not fed too much corn, is of a desirable 

 bacon type. 



Crossbred or grade Cheshires are not common, but are looked 

 upon with favor in some localities. Where superior and prepotent 

 boars are kept they may be used on common sows to material 

 advantage, securing a high class of pork. 



The Cheshire as a feeder is not well known. But few have been 

 tried in the great swine-producing sections of the country. Only 

 experiment stations in the Eastern states have fed Cheshires ex- 

 perimentally. The Maine Station reports in 1890 a comparison of 

 breeds of swine, Cheshires gaining daily 1.23 pounds, Yorkshires 

 1. 1 4, Chester Whites 1.08, Poland-Chinas i.oi, and Berkshires i. 

 Two pigs of each breed were used, one of each sex, and they were 

 fed from five to eight weeks. The Berkshires ate the least food to 

 make a pound of gain, and the Cheshires the most. Experiments 

 in 1 89 1 at the Maine Station, also, showed more food required for 

 the growth of the Cheshire than for that of other breeds. 



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