NEW YORK, APRIL i, 1893. 
PRICE, THREE CENTS. 
$ 1.00 PER YEAR. 
A TALK ABOUT CHESHIRES. 
THE HOG THAT TAKES THE PRIZE AND DECEIVES 
THE GUESSEU. 
The great victory won by the Cheshires in 1870 at 
St. Louis, attracted public attention to this then 
nearly new breed. That any breed should win a 
sweepstake prize the first t : me exhibited is remark¬ 
able, but that decision has been proved a just one by 
their continued popularity. I have yet to find a man 
who ever owned a thoroughbred Cheshire that has 
anything but praise for the breed. I called, recently, 
on Secretary Coe, of Kirkville, N. Y., who has one of 
the largest, if not the largest bleeding herd in the 
country. The illustration (Fig. 88) shows a typical 
Cheshire sow, “ Lady Moody,” which was one of the 
foundation herd that won the pork-packers’ prize of 
$500 in gold. 
“ What breeding change has been made since then, 
Mr. Coe ? ” I asked. 
“ Not much; the ears are thin and erect, and nose 
shorter, with, 
perhaps, a 
slightly in¬ 
creased dish to 
the face be¬ 
tween the eyes. 
It is a difficult 
task to shorten 
the head with¬ 
out also shoit- 
ening the body; 
but it has been 
accomplished. 
They are the 
longest hogs 
exhibited at the 
fairs.” 
It w as easy to 
believe that 
statement after 
we had meas¬ 
ured a young 
boar that would 
weigh about 150 
pounds, and 
found he meas¬ 
ured four feet 
frcin his ears 
back. 
“Are the 
Cheshires a dis¬ 
tinct breed ? ” 
“ Y r s; they 
are the result 
of A. C. Clark’s 
efforts to get a 
white breed which can be easily kept and mature 
early His claim was fully established in 1866 when 
the Supreme Ccurt gave him a judgment of $572.62 
against certain persons for damages arising from 
slanderous charges in regard to the breed.” 
“ A new breed must show many variat'ons ? ” 
“ One would expect that; but by proper inbreeding 
and careful selection the type is firmly established. 
A sow of any breed or color when bred to a Cheshire 
will always have white pigs. This makes them valu¬ 
able for crossing c n scrub stock. Many men have a 
prejudice against black skinned hogs and can thus 
avoid them.” 
“ But there are more black hogs in the West than 
of all other colors combined.” 
“ That is because they think black hogs stand the 
heat of the sun belter than white, net because they 
are better animals.” 
“Why do some Cheshires show long, coarse hair ? 
They are very fine, short-haired hogs as a rule.” 
“That is due to the feed and lack of warm quar¬ 
ters. A pig will grow hair if nothing else, and that 
is a sure sign it is not doing well A long-haired pig 
can be transformed into a smooth, fine-haired hog by 
putting it into a warm per, keeping it clean and feed¬ 
ing it bran, milk, roots and charcoal.” 
“ Why is it that very few persons can guess any¬ 
where near the live weight of a Cheshire ? They 
never get near enough when estimating mine.” 
“They are very long, but the ribs are not rounding 
as in some other breeds. The Berkshire has a ‘spring’ 
rib and looks fatter than it is. When fattened, the 
Cheshires are very broad across the back, filling up 
along the back bone, which gives a large proportion 
of the best cuts.” 
I had noticed this peculiarity myself. One of my 
breeding was sold to a butcher who kept an accurate 
account of the cutting up and sales. Compared with 
a scrub of the same weight, the Cheshire retailed for 
$2 the most. Mr. Coe has a'ready begun the feeding 
of a choice let for exhibition at the World’s Fair. His 
hurry to start tlicir stock growing. The young pigs 
should have a chance to drink milk every day before 
they are weaned. They will not fill themselves so 
ful'. After wearing they should be fed often and 
but little at a time. The greatest mistake is in com¬ 
pelling them to gorge themselves with poor food 
while young I make a gruel of water, milk, wheat 
middlings and oil meal; this makes a rich ration, and 
fine frames fer future fattirg. r rhe dispos ticn to fill 
themselves to the fullest extent comes from a lack of 
warm quaiters. Lumber is cheaper than corn to keep 
hogs warm. They are very docile and quiet, which is 
a valuable trait, when one wants to remove the 
young, and denotes an easy keeper. I am wintering 
my own brood sows on raw, fiat turnips, which are 
cheaper than Mr. Coe’s grain rat’on and the animals 
are doing nicely. A sow eight months old that wen 
the first premium at Ithaca last fall, was turned into 
a cow pasture on June 1, and bad no other feed until 
taken to the fair. The only unfavorable comment 
offered was ‘ She is too fat for a brood sow.’” Per¬ 
haps some one 
can suggest a 
cheaper ration. 
C. E. CHAPMAN. 
A Typical Cheshire Sow, “ Lady Moody ” Fig. 88. 
boar, Sir John II., is expected to weigh 800 to 1,000 
pounds by August next. I asked him what he was 
feeding. He replied : 
“ My show hogs are getting ground oats and peas. 
I want to get all the frame possible so they will not 
get down on their legs and can also stand hot weather.” 
“ Do you intend to get them very fat ? ” 
“ Doing so is all wrong ; but to win they must be as 
fat as it is possible to make them.” 
“ What is your opinion of the different kinds of grain 
for hog feeding ? ” 
“Corn is no good, except for finishing off hogs a 
short time before killing. Barley is good for growing 
stock. Ground oats, two parts and one part of corn 
meal, make the best food for a sow giving milk.” 
“Will a pig do well if given all the milk it will 
drink when first weaned ? ” 
“A pig should have plenty of rich food, but if it 
gets ‘ pot-bellied,’ it is a damage from which it n r ver 
fully recovers. Many feeders are in too much of a 
Kgclreutekia 
Paniculata. — 
The Rubai, sur¬ 
prises me in 
sayiDg,inthe is¬ 
sue of March 11, 
thatithasnever 
seen much to 
admire in the 
Koelreuteria. It 
is valued very 
much here, the 
large l- panicles 
of yellow 
flowers being 
thought very 
beautiful ; and 
then it flowers 
in July, when 
blossoms are 
scarce on trees 
and shrubs. I 
have always 
looked on it as 
a valuable or¬ 
namental tree. 
The size of the 
specimen in the 
nursery in Eng¬ 
land mentioned 
in The Rural 
is not at all extraordinary. Near my brother’s house 
is one not over 15 jears planted, which is 24 feet 
high and 12 inches in diameter of trunk, and I 
have no doubt that there are many larger ones in the 
vicinity. Joseph meehan. 
R. N. Y.—We judged the tree from nursery stock 
and a single specimen in the Rural Grounds— insuf- 
ficent evidence for any emphatic opinion. 
Club Root of Cabbage —Through some oversight, a 
statement appeared in the last issue of The Rural for 
March 11, page 165, which should be corrected. In 
answer to S. S , Freeville, N. Y., club root of the cab¬ 
bage is attributed to the attacks of an insect. Now it 
is generally known that the trouble is due to the 
growth of a parasitic fungus—Plasmodiophara bras- 
sieae. This pUnt wh : ch belongs to the group of slime 
fungi, grows with ; n and causes enormous distension 
of the cells of tne young root®, thus producing the 
knotty appearanee know a as “ club root.” 
Maine State College. w. m. munson. 
