THE CULTIVATOR. 
13 
United States. But for fear of an over estimate, we will suppose the consumption 
only 2 ounces per day—this amounts to 730 million pounds, or 3,650,000 barrels, 
which at eight dollars per barrel, (the probable average price, taking one year with 
another,) would make 29,200,000 dollars as the value of our pork consumption 
alone. Now many of our most experienced stock growers assert, that the improved 
races of swine will make three times as much meat from the same quantity of food, 
that those of the unimproved will; and again, the quality of the meat is so much su¬ 
perior that it will go twice as far in giving vigor and sustaining life. Experience has 
convinced me of the truth of these assertions ; but, lest we should claim too much, 
we will allow only one-half saved, or say, in round numbers, fifteen millions of dol¬ 
lars. What a vast sum to be annually lost to America, just for want of a little atten¬ 
tion in breeding pigs! Why, if properly applied, it would soon finish all our pro¬ 
jected rail-roads and canals, or keep a good school one-half of the year in every dis¬ 
trict in the union. 
Of all the known varieties of the domesticated hog, the Chinese has long been ce¬ 
lebrated as decidedly the most perfect in shape and general conformation. How this 
breed was first produced, it is impossible now to say; there is no doubt, however, 
in my mind, but that, like the Arabian horse, it was original, and that the best spe¬ 
cimens to be found on the Eastern Continent, are the identical counterparts of the 
pair that descended with Noah from the ark, after the subsiding of the deluge, and 
that all other varieties have deteriorated by running wild, or from carelessness in 
feeding, and neglect and inattention in properly breeding, — the goodness of the 
Deity never forming in the beginning the detestible brute that we see roaming in eve¬ 
ry direction the country round, like a veritable cannibal, seeking who and what he 
may devour. But be this as it may, the Chinese, as we find them scattered along 
the coasts of the Celestial Empire, and on the adjacent islands, vary greatly in size, 
and somewhat in shape, and are of every shade of color, from pure white up to jet 
black. The most approved varieties, however, may be thus described. A fine head 
and snout, with the face somewhat dished, small upright ears, a somewhat short and 
very thick deep carcase, large hams and shoulders, short legs, delicate feet, soft 
thin hair and skin, a tendency to grow and fatten almost upon air alone, and to give 
when slaughtered very little offal, and the SAveetest and most delicate of pork. _ 
Below are the portraits of a pair of the improved Chinese (figs. 2 and 3,) in the 
Avriter’s possession, bred by himself, and faithfully sketched after the originals, by 
his friend Mr. Julius Gerber, and engraved by Buffalo’s promising young artist, Mr. 
J. W. Orr. They are represented in no better flesh than they Avill always attain when 
full grown, running in a common grass pasture during the summer, or with the most 
moderate allowance of food in the Avinter. . 
There was a slight mis¬ 
take in the coloring of the 
engravings, the spots of 
black and Avhite in the ori¬ 
ginals being fewer in num¬ 
ber, and of course some¬ 
what larger than here re 
presented. As now bred 
by the Avriter, their live 
weights full groAvn, are 
generally from 200 to 300 
pounds; occasionally they 
have gone as high as 400 
pounds, but this is ex¬ 
tremely rare. They are 
equally hardy, enduring 
heat and cold as Avell as 
any of the native swine; 
are fair breeders, usually 
having from six to nine 
pigs at a litter; mature 
easily, and can be fatten¬ 
ed at any age. Whether 
in field or pen, they are 
ever quiet; the loosest 
boards keep them up, and 
the poorest fence secures 
them within their bounds; 
and like Diogenes in his 
[Fig. 2.]— Maid of Erie. 
[Fig. 3.]— Seneca Chief. 
tub, they seem never so happy as Avhen left alone to sleep, and dream, and cogitate 
on deep philosophy. Their meat is exceedingly delicate and sweet.. In England it 
bears the highest price, and is called par excellence the “ gentleman’s pork.” The 
improved Chinese will give a greater amount of pork for their food than any other 
breed in existence; and it is in allusion to this circumstance that the able editor of 
the Maine Farmer, with no less truth than justice, calls them the “poor man’s hog.” 
Boars of this breed are highly recommended to cross Avith the common hog of the 
country, as they most rapidly improve the quality of the meat of their progeny, fine 
their points, give breadth and depth to the carcase, quiet their dispositions, and add 
a greater tendency to mature quick, and fatten kindly, and at the same time increase 
their sizes. 
Many attempts have been made in Europe to improve the breed of the native 
SAvine, by selections and otherwise; but so far as the Avriter has been able to folloAV 
them up, there has been little success, and that little very slowly obtained, except only 
Avhere resort has been had immediately to the Chinese boar. This is particularly 
the case with England, whose efforts seem to have carried her, in this department, 
as far beyond her neighbors as in that of the improvement of horses, cattle and 
sheep. Every county there boasts of its breed of swine, and certainly many are very 
deserving, having derived their chief excellence from a cross more or less deep Avith 
the large white Chinese boar. Of these are the Leicester, the Bedford or Woburn, 
the Sussex and Cheshire. But the most decided improvement, and which by the care 
and skill of recent breeders, has now nearly attained perfection, Avas that of the 
black Siamese boar upon the old stock of Berkshire county. This, I understand, be¬ 
gan about forty years since. The Berkshires were then mostly a long, large, coarse, 
lop eared hog, of a sandy or reddish broAAm, or white, with black spots, and coming 
up, not unfrequently, to the high weights of 800, and eA r en 1,000 pounds. But it was 
a slow feeder, long attaining to maturity, an enormous consumer, and in common 
with most of England’s other varieties, an unprofitable beast. Yet possessing rather 
thicker hams and shoulders than the ether kinds, a longer, fuller body, and its meat 
abounding greatly inlean, the little, short, fat, black mouse-eared Siamese told well in 
thp cross; and thus Avas produced the dark, splendid Berkshire, that at present occu¬ 
pies the same rank among hogs that the Durhams do among cattle. They mature 
quickly, and like the Chinese, canbe fattened at any age, and still may be selected, when 
desirable, for great sizes; are prolific breeders and the best of nurses; thrifty, hardy, 
and of most excellent constitution. They are fine in their points, possessing remark¬ 
able thickness in the ham and shoulder, and show a round, smooth barrel of good 
length, that gives a large proportion of side pork. They have little offal, thin rind 
and hair, and fe w or no bristles. The meat abounds still greatly in muscle, and the 
hams particularly are highly prized, commanding an extra price in market, being 
very tender, juicy and lean. 
As now bred, the Berkshires vary someAvhat in size, appearance and maturity. 
Those Avith the finest heads, a dished face, and rather upright than forward ears, 
with a snugger shoulder and ham, and shorter body, most resemble the Siamese an¬ 
cestor, and therefore are quickest to mature, and probably give the most delicate 
meat, and to one satisfied with moderate size, are undoubtedly to be preferred. Bar¬ 
rows of this description, if well fed till 18 months old, easily attain 300 to 400 pounds, 
and weights within these limits are the most eagerly sought for at the Smithfield mar¬ 
ket, and are probably on the whole the most profitable for both consumer and producer. 
Others, generally of a straight nose, with a coarser head, and ears protruding well 
forward over the eye, or slightly lopped, with greater length of body, incline more 
to the original Berkshires, attain higher weights, and require a longer time to ma¬ 
ture. There are individuals, however, occasionally possessing all the fine requisites 
of the former selections, together with the large size of the latter. Of this class the 
figures below are supposed to be as fine specimens as any at present in the United 
States, 
[Fig. 4.]— Raven 
[Fig. 5.']—Black Warrior. 
This nair is imon- the Avriter’s breeding stock, and he believes that he can 
confidently appeal to the numerous gentlemen who have favorediff 
call, to attest to the faithfulness of the portraits. They are no t fat 
for Berkshires but merely in good store order, and were two years old last spring. 
The live Avemiit of the soav is noAV about 450 pounds, that of the boar 500 poun s. 
They have never been pushed at all in their feed, but kept steadily along and when 
groAvn, in fair condition, will weigh respectively 600 and 700 pounds at least, and 
P wfi y „w “2e7o g a m p°S of fatting barrows of .be unimproved breeds of swine.- 
They abound throughout the country, under a variety of most euphoneous names, 
but we may suppose those of Alligator and Landpike about as appropriate to them 
as any <XsTat could well be applied. They are not, however, mtnrticed here 
for derision, or for the purpose of getting up a carricature, as the canea- 
sily be found; but to shoAv that there is something m breed, and to filtrate the difler- 
’ ’ cvarl n Ttnnr miR wriPtv Thev have ionST. 
r\ otitT 
[Fig. 6.]— Alligator. 
[Fig. 7.]— Landpike. 
peaked snouts, coarse heads, thin chests and narroAV shoulders, sharp backs, slab 
sides, steep rumps, and meagre diminutive hams, big legs, clumped feet, Avith the 
hide of a rhinoceros, and the hair and bristles of a porcupine, and as thick and shag¬ 
gy as a bear’s. Hoav can such animals thrive, and above all ever be fattened? To 
attempt to make them do either, as the writer found to his cost in his first efforts at 
farming, were time, and money, and produce thrown away. They have no capacity 
at digestion, and concocting their food in the stomach for nourishment; and if they 
had, to the formation of what would it all go ? Pork?. No, indeed—but offal, bones, 
rind, bristles and hair, with a narrow streak of gristle underneath, and a still nar- 
roAver line of lean, both as tough and rank as whitleather, and about as incapable of 
being masticated ; and if it Avere not, must require a vast deal of larding to make it 
sustain human life. I have been obliged to purchase it occasionally for my Avo^k 
men, and before they could possibly get up a fry for breakfast, twice the weight in lard 
from other hogs had to be added to it; and as for baking or boiling, one might as well 
undertake to stew an alligator’s hide itself. In disposition, they are like the Ishmael- 
ites of old—their snouts are against every man, and eA'ery man’s hand is against 
them. No reasonable fence can stop them, but ever restive and uneasy, they rove 
about seeking plunder ; squalling, grunting, rooting, paAving, always in mischief and 
always destroying. Enormous gormandizers, yet never satisfied; but like Pharaoh’s 
lean kind, they lick their joAvls for more, and sIioav in their miserable carcases no re¬ 
turn for the food consumed. In short, the more a man possesses of such stock, the 
Avorse he is off, and he had far better sell his produce at any price—yes, even his 
