45 
tainly think there is great loss and waste in this country by feeding with 
raw corn—I also put some charcoal in the trough every Aveek. 
“ There is no doubt but that the quality of the Berkshire pork is su¬ 
perior to any other, as the fat is firm like the brisket of beef, whereas 
the meat of all white hogs is lardy and soft, at least that of such as are 
thrifty or quick to fatten. I have had the breed since 1826, and in 1849 
I brought it to this country. 
James Revell.” 
John W. Gray’s Statement : 
“ The sow upon which I received the premium is of native breed. Her 
pigs, upon which also the premium was awarded, are one quarter Suffolk. 
The sow was two years old last May, and kept the first summer on milk, 
wintered on corn and carrots. During the second summer she run in a 
timothy pasture, having nothing but grass, until the time of farrowing, 
(July 29th), after which she was fed upon oat and barley meal and milk 
until the pigs were two months old, when they averaged seventy pounds 
weight each. 
“ I think that some of our best formed large native hogs, or crosses 
between them and the Leicesters, are preferable to any of the small 
breeds. I am satisfied, that in proportion to the amount of food con¬ 
sumed, they will produce as much or more pork, which will also com¬ 
mand a higher price in market than that of the smaller varieties. They 
are also more easily controlled by our rail fences ; but their greatest re¬ 
commendation is, that the pigs may be fattened at eight or ten months of 
age to a weight of two or three hundred pounds without the trouble and 
expense of wintering. 
“ There appears to be greater defects in the rearing and management 
of swine than of any other class of domestic animals. Pigs are raised 
from small young half-starved sows, and are often bred in and in until 
leanness and weakness become hereditary, and thus a stock of hogs which 
may have had its origin in a fine blooded pair of pigs, purchased at a 
high price, by the system of inbreeding commenced to preserve the stock 
pure, and of breeding from young sows to obtain a rapid increase, runs 
into a breed which, in the third or fourth generation, bears no resem¬ 
blance to the original parentage. 
