201 
SMALL YORKSHIRE SWINE. 
Of all our modern breeds of swine the 
Yorkshires appear to be the most ancient. To 
an infusion of their blood the Chester-Whites, 
the Thin-Rinwl, the Berkshire and the Poland- 
China owe some of their excellencies. Indeed 
it is diflicult among our improved breeds to 
find any in which the Yorkshire does not 
crop out in some particular. 
They are all white and are so 
thoroughbred and positive that 
they carry their own color when 
crossed with almost any other 
breed, even if it is entirely black. 
This thoroughbred power of 
transmitting their special char¬ 
acteristics to a preeminent de¬ 
gree makes these very valuable 
breeds for the improvement of 
our “native” swine, for a cross 
on any of these produces more 
aptitude to fatten aud smaller 
bone with less offal. Such crosses 
will mature eailier and make 
more pork on the same amount 
of feed, than the natives. 
There are three breeds or 
strains of Yorkshire swine—the 
Large, Small and Medium—all 
doubtless developed from the 
same original stock by differ¬ 
ences in feeding and environ¬ 
ment, and by carefulness in se 
lection and breeding. While dif¬ 
fering from each other in size 
and some minor points, all 
three have the same general 
characteristics. The principal points of the 
Small breed are:—A short, upturned nose; 
lower jaws dished; prick curs, slightly in¬ 
clined forwards; heavy jowls; the neck some¬ 
what long and well padded with llesb, making 
the head appear to be hung at a lower level 
than the shoulders, which should be wide 
apart and well joined to hoop-like ribs: the 
loin wide; the hind-quarters long and square, 
with meat down to the hocks; the tail thin and 
set high; the legs short and placed well apart, 
the whole being covered with a coat of fine 
hair. 
Of this breed we present a specimen in the 
boar “ Lord John,” farrowed Sept. 24, 1879; 
got by “Crown Prince,” by “Duke of Ells- 
mere” out of imported “Ellsmere CHrl ” Dam 
“Princess IV.” by imported “Duke of York¬ 
shire;” second dam, “ Princess II.” by import¬ 
ed “King John;” third dam imported “Des- 
deuiona." “ Lord John ” took first premium 
at the New York State Fair of I8SU and 1881, 
also at the Onondaga County and Lewis Coun¬ 
ty Fairs of 1880. He is the propert, of Mr. 
T. R, Proctor, of Baggs’s Hotel Farm, Utica, 
New York. 
-- 
ARE BERKSHIRES THE ONLY GOOD 
BREED? 
In the Rural fox Februar}^ 25 I find this 
sentence, in the description of Mr. Proctor’s 
boar:—“A Berkshire cross upon any other 
breed is sure to produce an improvement, 
while a cross of any other breed upon the 
Berkshire is equally sure to result in deteriora¬ 
tion.” The statement is so contrary to my 
own experience, and to the experience of oth¬ 
ers of which I have knowledge, that I do not 
propose to let the proposition pass unchal¬ 
lenged. I will pi-emise 1 have nothing to say 
against Mr. Proctor’s Berkshires, as I can 
personally testify that he exhibited in 18S0 
and 1881 some first-class stock. I object only 
to the statement I have quoted. When I first 
came upon a farm, several years since, I pur¬ 
chased a litter of nine Cheshire pigs, I bought 
them simply because they were good pigs, not 
because they were Cheshires, At that time 
my prejudices were entirely in favor of the 
Berkshires, not because I knew anything about 
them, but because I had read so much about 
them in the agricultural papers. Part of the 
above-mentioned litter were fattened and part 
saved for breeding purposes. Two of these 
young Cheshire sows the next Fall were token 
to a thoroughbred Berkshire boar kept by the 
Oneida Community. (The Community had 
been breeding and shipping Berkshires for a 
long time,claiming to have the best in the coun¬ 
try.) The others were taken to a Cheshire boar. 
The following season the Cheshire pigs and 
the cross-bred pigs from a Berkshire boar were 
fed all running together. (Part of both kinds 
had been sold.) I expected the half-Berkshire 
pigs to do much the best, according to the 
statements 1 had so often read ; but, instead of 
that, to my great surprise, the Cheshires grew 
right away from the others. They were all 
good pigs and all dil well, but the Cheshires 
did much the best, contrary to the proposition 
laid down in the Rural. The difference in 
growth was so marked that I entirely discard¬ 
ed the Berkshire cross, and from that day to 
this I have kept nothing hut Cheshires. 
I have time and again had Berkshire sows 
brought to my boars, and the uniform report 
has been that all the pigs were white and the 
best they ever had. In 1880 I sold some 
Cheshires to Jacob Stiner, of Cbittenango, N. 
Y. In 1881 I was at his farm and found he 
had two splendid Berkshire sows with pigs 
from his Cheshire boar. A few days since he 
told me that these cross-bred pigs from his 
Cheshire boar were the best pigs to grow and 
fatten he ever saw. Mr. Stiner is a well- 
known, reliable farmer, and we see in this 
case at least a cross upon the Berkshires did 
not produce deterioration, A few years since 
I twice sent Cheshire pigs to A. H. Bates, An- 
cola, Ind. He had been, and is now, a breeder 
and shipper of Berkshires, and so could not be 
prejudiced against them. 8o well is he known 
as a good judge of swine that he has often 
been judge on swine at the State and other 
fail's of Indiana. I make the following extract 
from a letter of his now in my possession:—“I 
have fed all kinds known in this county, and 
when placed side by side and mixed together 
in lots of 25 to 75, comprising Poland-Cbinas, 
Berkshires, Chpster-Whit.es and Cheshires, I 
find that the Cheshires out grow, out.-weigh 
and out sell any other kind ” The italics are 
Mr. Bates’s. 
As I mentioned above, the Oneida Commu¬ 
nity bred and shipped Berkshires for many 
years, even importing stock from England. I 
was at the Community yesterday and looked 
at their swine. Their herdsman told me they 
now had but two thoroughbred Berkshires, 
most of their stock being grade Cheshires, and 
they were going to get full-blood Cheshires. I 
asked him why they changed. He replied that 
the Cheshires would grow better than the 
Berkshires and that people liked them better. 
Kennedy & Angel, a firm of butchers doing 
by far the largest business of any firm in 
Oneida, state that the best hogs they get are 
the Cheshire and the next best the Berkshire. 
I have nothing to say against Berkshires—I 
consider them a very fine breed ; but I am 
getting tired of the assumption of Berkshire 
men that there is no other breed as good as 
their breed. I think I have demonstrated 
that with respect to the Cheshires a cro^s from 
the Berkshires is not sure to improve, and a 
cross from the Cheshires is not sure to deterio¬ 
rate, for I understand your proposition to 
mean that a Berkshire boar used upen other 
breeds always improves and a boar of any 
other breed used upon a Berkshire always 
deteriorates. E. W. Davis. 
Madison Co., N. Y. 
REMARKS. 
In saying that “a Berkshire cross upon any 
other breed is sure to produce an improve¬ 
ment,” etc., as our correspondent quotes from 
the Rural, we meant it as particularly appli¬ 
cable to the quality of their meat. Berkshire 
hams, shoulders and bacon, for nearly a cen¬ 
tury past, have taken precedence as to qual¬ 
ity in the English market, and have sold at 
a higher price than those of any other breed. 
The reason for this is that they have a much 
greater proportion of lean, tender, juicy meat 
than the meat of any other breeds of swine 
with which we are acquainted. We have 
had bams that weighed between 20 and 30 
pounds each, and the streak of fat around 
them was not over half an inch thick; the 
rest was lean of the most palatable quali¬ 
ty, and so juicy and tender when properly 
boiled that thin slices of it would almost 
melt in one’s mouth, and required little mas¬ 
tication before swallowing it. 
Can our correspondent send us a ham from 
his favorite Cheshires which will equal this ? 
If so, we shall be happy to pay for it and to 
acknowledge it on trial. The shoulders and 
bacon of Berkshires correspond in quality to 
that of the hams. 
Ab for producing fat pork to be salted and 
barreled, we have often stated in the Rural 
that several other breeds were superior to the 
Berkshire, because their meat abounds in a 
much larger proportion of fat than lean, and 
this fat is best for salting. They also give 
a greater proportion of lard. Now which 
breed of swine is the “best ” and most profit¬ 
able to raise will depend entirely on the pur. 
poses for which their flesh is wanted, the 
market in which it is sold, and the taste and 
requirements of the consumers. Our corres¬ 
pondent asserts that his Chesh'res are “the 
best ” because “ they grew right away from 
the others.” Suppose they did, how does 
this prove that they were better than other 
breeds ? Did they consume less food in pro¬ 
portion to the net amount of carcass after 
being butchered and dressed ? And did their 
pork bring a higher price in the market ? He 
gives no data by which we can judge as to 
these points, and which we think absolutely 
necessary to properly and fairly decide the 
question of wbat is the “ best breed” of swine. 
As to mere “ growth,” it is probable his 
Cheshires w'ere not fed alongside of the larg¬ 
est and most thrifty elas; of Berkshires. We 
have often seen specimens of this breed which 
would dress from 400 to 600 pounds at 16 to 20 
months of age. well fattened, and occasion¬ 
ally one that we judged would reach 700 to 
800 pounds, a little older. Now', how much 
will our correspondent’s Cheshires weigh at 
this age? As for crosses of the Berkshire, 
some years ago we saw a lot bred from a 
boar stinted to a large class of white sows, 
in the Miami Valley of Ohio, that weighed, 
alive, at 18 to 21 months of age. from over 
800 to 1,100 pounds; will the Cheshires match 
them in growth and weight ? 
The Polaud-China breed was made up part¬ 
ly from this cross, and they are the most 
popular of all in the great pork-producing 
districts of the West, for salting, and they 
also make an excellent quality of hams, shoul¬ 
ders and bacon. It is strange that the shrewd, 
intelligent breeders of swine there have not 
found out that the Cheshires, as our cor¬ 
respondent asserts, are superior to their Po- 
land-Chinas. If he will prove this to their 
satisfaction we will guarantee him a quick 
sale to them, at extra high prices, for all the 
pigs he can breed for many years to come. 
Mere “ growth ” or “ weight ” of animals of 
any kind proves nothing: we must know at 
what cost these are produced, and, when 
done, what is the profit realized on them, 
either consumed at home in the family or sold 
in the market. 
-- 
HOG CHOLERA-CASES CURED. 
On reading “Stockman’s" quotations from 
“a Western hog farmer,” in a late Rural, lean 
come to but one conclusion, namely: stock- 
man has had but little, if any, experience with 
hogs, and especially with hog cholera—cer¬ 
tainly not with its cause, prevention and cure. 
I w ill here make the assertion and submit it 
to the judgment of competent men, men w ho 
have had practical experience in raising hogs 
—that more hogs die by hog cholera from 
over-care than from what we call “roughing 
it.” But few hogs die in this part of Kansas 
from cholera, and such as do, are those that 
are token the best care of. 
J. M. Barry says: “We have got to experi¬ 
ence the delight of seeing a man who doctored 
a hog sick with the cholera aud cured it." 
Well X have seen the man that doctored the 
hog and the hog got well ; but I do not say 
that he cured it. Let us see: Some time ago one 
of my neighbors came to me stating that some- 
thing was the matter with his hogs. That 
omething was the cholera. I told him to go 
to my turnip patch and get an arm-load of 
turnips and feed them to his hogs in connection 
with parched corn. He did it, and most, if not 
all, of them got well. One was so bad, the hide 
came off of the entire back. 
H. A Eggleston, of Sumner County, Kan¬ 
sas, in the Kansas Farmer of January 28th, 
1882, says; “ When the cholera got among my 
hogs, I put corn on a brush heap and burned 
it. The hogs ate the ashes and the charred 
corn. Then I put coal oil in milk, a few 
spoonfuls to every hog, and fed that to them. 
I have not lost a hog.” The hogs were sick 
with the cholera and recovered under that 
treatment , I w r ould like to hear from real hog 
farmers on this subject, if the Rural will ad 
mit their communications. W.u. J. Boggs. 
Salina, Kansas. 
[We always value most highly persona], in¬ 
structive or interesting experiences of any 
and all branches of agriculture and stock keep¬ 
ing and our columns are alw’ays gladly 
open to such communications from our sub¬ 
scribers and others. Ed.] 
To Kill Lice ox Hogs.—A pply kerosene 
oil wdth a brush, cloth or otherwise; it is sure 
death to the lice, but won’t hurt the hogs. 
Prince Edward Co, Va. H. Calkins. 
ittiscHlmtmts. 
"HORTICOLA” AND THE SCIENTISTS. 
Was notHorticola hasty in saying that scien¬ 
tists assert the colors and fragrance of flowers 
are intended, not for the gratification and 
enjoyment of man' but to attract the attention 
of insects, and ‘for no other purpose what¬ 
ever V Has he not seen that they argue in 
quite a different line? They are simply phy- 
ciissts not metaphysicians, and seek to discover 
how the colors and graces of flowers have been 
gradually developed and increased; it is out of 
their province to inquire why. A class of 
reasoners in a higher, less obvious, and equally 
boundless field of research, ask this latter 
question, and a © inclusion generally arrived 
at is that flowers are provided as apostles of 
natural religion- They meet the eye of man 
in every oath he takes, no matter how seclud¬ 
ed. At least once in every year they almost 
force themselves upon his attention, shining 
round his feet while birds carol happily above. 
And if they succeed in diverting his attention 
from the clogging drossof earth to themselves 
they tell him distinctly, through hisevery-day 
ph v sical senses that there are beauty, peace a nd 
enjoyment in store; that God means well for 
all his creatures; that suffering is but transient 
and preparatory to enjoyment, and that there 
is a resurrection to brightness and happiness 
of which these annuallv re-appearing lovely 
flowers and joyous birds are types aud plainly 
intended as such. The scientists are no doubt 
right in showiug how lowly, despised worms 
and humble insects have been engaged through 
ages in perfecting the soil, and garnishing it 
with “all manner of plants pleasant to the 
eye, and good for food,” preparatory for the 
advent and term of tenacy of the latest lord 
of the world; and how man owes regard arid 
gratitude to them and the good Father for 
these provisions. w. 
CATALOGUES. 
The Horticulture of Boston and Vicin¬ 
ity, by Marshall P. Wilder. —We are 
indebted to the venerable and widely esteemed 
author for a copy of this work. It is a pam¬ 
phlet of 85 pages, privately printed, hut sub¬ 
stantially the same as the chapter prepared 
for the Boston Memorial Series, Vol. 4., which 
is printed under the auspices of tllb New 
England Historic Genealogical Society, of 
which Col. Wilder is president. This little 
book is replete with valuable and interesting 
information about the gardens and orchards 
of Bostou and its vicinity for the past 250 
years. We are told that prior to 1684 Mr. 
Blackstoue had a famous orchard on Beacon 
Hill; in URS Gov John Endicutt bought 250 
acres of laud for 500 apple trees from bis 
Nursery at Salem; the Colonial legislature 
granted Conant’s mow Governor's) Island to 
Gov. John Winthrop for two bushels of 
apples a year, and other interesting informa¬ 
tion to show the appreciation of horticulture 
by the early colonists. Little is said of the 
horticulture during the last half of the seven¬ 
teenth century, but many famous gardens and 
eminent horticulturists of the eighteenth cen¬ 
tury are spoken of. The greater portion of 
the work is devoted, and justly, to the horti¬ 
culture of the present century, and surely no 
man is better qualified to describe the same 
than Col. Wilder who is now in his S4th year, 
and has always been actively interested in, 
and prominently connected with, gardening 
and fruit growing. The book shows a vast 
amount of research, and is highly interesting 
and valuable, especially to the people of Mass¬ 
achusetts. By it we learn that Andrew 
Fauieul built the firstgreenhouse in New Eng¬ 
land, and Judge Lowell who died in 1802, had 
one of the earliest greenhouses about Boston; 
that, fifty years ago a collection of Amaryl¬ 
lises and tender orchids were grown by Mr. 
Boot; today some orchids in Mr. Ames’s col¬ 
lection have cost 100 to ISO guineas a plant; 
that, some30 years ago the Victoria regia was 
flowered at Salem by Mr. Allan. The Arnold 
Arbovetum has 2,500 species of trees and 
shrubs; the city of Boston takes care of 2S,000 
trees and has 1,500 permanent trees and 
shrubs aud 90.000 Summer bedding plants in 
its public garden. Many of the valuable fruits 
