SWINE.-NO. 3 . 
151 
SWINE.—No. 3. 
Introduction of Swine into America. —The first 
swine, unquestionably, which were introduced into 
America, must have been brought over to Hispani¬ 
ola, by Columbus, in his second voyage. He left 
Spain, in 1493, on the 25th of September, as admiral 
and commander in chief, with 17 ships, fifteen hun¬ 
dred men, and European trees, plants, and seeds of 
various kinds. He also brought over quite a num¬ 
ber of horses, one bull, and several cows ■ and cer¬ 
tainly, at that time, would not have forgotten so 
common an animal as the hog. 
The first person, so far as we can learn, who 
imported swine into what now forms a part of the 
United States, was Ferdinand de Soto. He brought 
them, together with horses, from the island of Cuba, 
and landed them in Florida, in the year 1538. 
The Portuguese took swine and cattle to New¬ 
foundland and Nova Scotia, in the year 1553. 
Thirty years after this, they had multiplied so abun¬ 
dantly, that Sir Richard Gilbert, when coasting 
that region, in undertaking to land, to obtain sup¬ 
plies of cattle and hogs for his ship’s crew,, was 
totally wrecked. 
In 1591, the British ship, Henry May, was 
wrecked on Bermuda, at which time the surviving 
crew found that island swarming with wold black 
hogs, though not a single human being was then 
living there. It is supposed that these swine were 
^Jhe descendants from those belonging to some 
vessel, which had been cast away many years be¬ 
fore, as several Spanish and Dutch wrecks were 
found on the shore. 
Swine and other domestic animals were brought 
over to Acadia, or New France, by M„ L’Escarbot, 
a French lawyer, in 1604, the first year this country 
was settled. In 1608, the French extended -their 
settlement into Canada, and soon after introduced 
the various domestic animals. 
In 1609, three ships, from England, landed at 
Jamestown, Virginia, with many immigrants and the 
following domestic animals ; namety, 6 mares, 1 
horse, 600 swine, 500 poultry, with a few goats 
and sheep. Other domestic animals had been 
brought there previously. In 1611, Sir Thomas 
Gates brought over to the same settlement 100 cows 
besides other cattle. They were kept near Roch¬ 
dale. As early as 1617, the sWine had multiplied 
so rapidly in this colony that the people were oblig¬ 
ed to palisade Jamestown, to prevent being over¬ 
run with them. 
The plantations on James River, in 1627, con¬ 
tained about 2,000 head of horned cattle, goats in 
great abundance, and wild hogs in the forest with¬ 
out number. The Indians then fed upon them 
freely instead of game. Every family that had not 
an abundance of tame hogs and poultry, at that 
time, was considered very poor. 
As early as 1629, we find that the Plymouth 
Colony, of Massachusetts, had cattle, goats, swine, 
and poultry. We may, therefore, conclude that 
their importation probably followed the year after 
their first settlement, in- 1620. In 1629, 115 more 
cattle were * brought over to this colony, be¬ 
sides horses, 140 goats, and some conies. 
We might thus go on, ad infinitum, in giving de¬ 
tails of various importations of the domestic ani¬ 
mals into America; but we think we have said 
enough to show that they were coeval, or nearly 
so, in their introduction, with the humane species ; 
so that the history of the settlement and progress of 
the population of this country, ma^be considered 
that of the domestic animals. 
What these various breeds of swine were, we are 
unable to learn, save that those introduced into Vir¬ 
ginia, from Bermuda, were pretty much the same as 
is now known as the Spanish black hog, a very 
fine, well-bred animal, of medium size. It is said 
they have continued from their first importation 
down to the present day, to exercise a marked in¬ 
fluence in the shape and general characteristics of 
many of the best southern hogs. 
The Chinese, Siamese, and cognate breeds, from 
various parts of Asia, Africa, and the European 
shores of the Mediterranean, have often been brought 
to this country by enterprising merchants, the cap¬ 
tains of our trading ships, as well as by officers of 
the navy. These were distributed among our far¬ 
mers, and were the cause of more or less improve¬ 
ment in the native stock. 
The first swine of which we can find any relia¬ 
ble account, as having made much improvement in 
the stock of the United States, was a pair of pigs 
sent by the Duke of Bedford, to Gen. Washington, 
by a Mr. Parkinson, an English farmer, who came to 
this country in 179-. He leased a farm in the vi¬ 
cinity of Baltimore, Maryland, where he resided 
some time. Instead of delivering these pigs to 
Washington, he dishonestly sold them. They were 
generally called the “ Woburn,” or “ Bedford 
breed,” but in some districts in this country, they 
were known by the name of the “ Parkinson hog.” 
They originated at Woburn, the estate of the Duke 
of Bedford, and were produced by a cross of the 
Chinese boar on the large English hog. In their 
perfection, they were a splendid breed : being fine 
in their points, of deep, round carcass, short Jegs, 
and thin hair. They kept easily, and matured 
early. At 12 to 20 months old, they usually 
weighed from 300 to 600 lbs. They had light 
offal, and their meat was of the first quality. Their 
color was white, broken more or less with dark 
blue or ash-colored spots. The steward of the 
Duke of Bedford, informed us, in 1841, that the true 
breed in England, had become extinct several years 
before; and we believe its purity is no longer 
known in the United States. They were at one 
time widely diffused in Maryland, and the border 
counties of Virginia, as well as in Pennsylvania. 
General Ridgely, of Maryland, bred the Woburns 
in high perfection. He sent a pair to Mr. Timothy 
Pickering, of Salem, Massachusetts, the descendants 
of which, and their crosses, were extensively bred 
over this and the adjoining states. 
The veteran editor of the Farmer’s Library, J. S. 
Skinner, Esq., informs us, that, in the year 1823, 
when residing in Baltimore, and then editing the 
American Farmer, an Englishman by the name' 
of Wright, sent him a pair of black hogs, ’which * 
were nearly as fine, but something larger, than the 
Woburns. Through his patriotic efforts, their stock 
became widely distributed in Maryland, and still far¬ 
ther south, where it was highly approved. 
The “ Byfield,” sometimes known as the Grass 
breed,” derives its first name from the circumstance 
of a farmer in the town of Byfieid, Massachusetts, 
