BERKSHIRE BREED. 
PLATE IY. 
PIG, bred by Mr Loud, Mackstock-mill, Warwickshire. 
Those varieties of the Swine of England which have received the name of Breeds, have been usually named from the counties 
or places where they have been reared in numbers. Thus we have the Hampshire, the Suffolk, the Berkshire, and other breeds, 
each supposed to be distinguished by a certain set of common characters. Of these breeds, one of the earliest improved was the 
Berkshire, so named from the county of that name; but the principal improvement of the breed was made in the counties farther 
north, chiefly in Leicestershire and Staffordshire. It still retained, however, its original designation, and the Berkshire has been 
long known as one of the most generally spread of the improved breeds of England. 
The true Berkshires are of the larger races of Swine, though they fall short in size of some of the older breeds, as the Hamp¬ 
shire, the Rudgwick, and others. They are usually of a reddish-brown colour, with brown or black spots, a chaiactei which 
makes it appear that one of the means employed to improve them was a cross with the MTld Boar. The Berkshiie has been 
long regarded as one of the superior breeds of England, combining size with a sufficient aptitude to fatten, and being fitted foi 
pork and bacon. It has been regarded also as the hardiest of the more improved races. 
The Berkshire breed has, like every other, been crossed and recrossed with the Chinese, or Chinese crosses, so as to lessen 
the size of the animals, and render them more suited to the demand which has arisen for small and delicate pork. Many of the 
modern breed are nearly black, indicating their approach to the Siamese character, and sometimes they are black broken with 
white, showing the effects of the cross with the white Chinese. From this intermixture, it becomes in many cases difficult to re¬ 
cognise, in the present race, the characters of the true Berkshire. The figure in the plate represents the old and characteristic 
form of the race. The great improver of the breed was Richard Astley, Esq. of Oldstonehall, from the direct descendants of 
whose stock the present specimen has been derived. 
Although no doubt can exist with respect to the great benefit that has arisen from diminishing the size and coarseness 
of the former Swine of England, yet, assuredly, there should be limits to this diminution of size in the Hog, as of every other 
animal cultivated for food. In many cases the diminution of size has been merely to suit the caprice of taste. The larger 
kinds of pigs do not find a ready sale in the markets of great cities, and hence the more essential property of an abundant produc¬ 
tion of butchers’ meat is sacrificed. But we should remember that the supply of pork is of immense importance to the support 
of the inhabitants of this country. In the state of bacon it is largely consumed by the mass of the people, and in the salted 
state, it is used for the supplies of our numerous shipping. It is not, therefore, for the general good, that the old breeds of England 
should be merged in the smaller races of China and other countries. 
While we should improve by every means the larger breeds that are left us, we should take care that we do not sacrifice them 
altogether. The country might one day regret that this over-refinement had been practised, and future improvers exert themselves 
in vain to recover those fine old breeds which had been abandoned. In place of unceasing crossing with the smaller races, it would 
be more praiseworthy and beneficial to apply to our larger races those principles of breeding which in the case of our other ani¬ 
mals have succeeded. By mere selection of the parents, we could remove all the defective characters of the larger breeds, and give 
to them all the degree of fineness which consists with their bulk of body; for there is no animal so easily changed in form and 
moulded to our purposes as the Hog. 
Amongst the kinds of crossing, that with the Wild Boar has been lately revived to some extent. The good effect of this cross 
is the improvement of the flesh, by mixing the fat more equally with the lean; for, in the Wild Boar, as in all the less cultivated 
races of the Domestic Animals, the fat is more mixed with the muscular parts. But otherwise the crossing with the wild race does 
not seem to be advisable. The form of the Wild Hog is not the perfect one at which the breeder should aim, and we have 
greatly better models presented to us in the best of the Domestic Breeds. 
Hogs are from time to time brought by our innumerable shipping from the countries of the Mediterranean, as Italy, Turkey, 
Spain, and mingled with the Swine of the country. Of the Mediterranean breeds, the Maltese was at one time in favour. It 
was of small size, of black colour, nearly destitute of bristles, and capable of fattening quickly. At the present time a breed from 
the country near Naples has been introduced, and has been employed very extensively to cross the other breeds. This breed, like 
