Imperial Valley press., 1913-01-21

the eye of the spectator which usually
creates an attraction at our county and
state fairs. That the California men
breeding Bcrkshircs Will make an clo-
Uueni display of this their favorilc
breed at The Pacific international cX-
position is without question, aS the
Berkshire al the present time seems
to be the most popular hog Of Cali
fnrnia. as evidenced by numbers III
the state.
The Berkshire World. a paper pub
liShcd entirely in favor of the Berk
shire is doing wonderful work in
the field If development for this breed.
The executive committee of the Berk
shire association are a lot Of men
who believe in promoting their cause
10 new fields of enterprise and they
have been the first to respond to the
chief of the live stock exposition i'll
the way of special appropriations. They
are ready io donate $1,000 for special
prizes at the 1915 fair.
The Berkshire is, generally speak
ng. recognized by the large raisrrS of
pork to be to the hog world what the
Hereford is to the beef world. Il known
rustler always hungry and ready for
his meals, refusing nothing mat ia
put in front of him and when noihin@
comes he is ready to 20 and hunt
for it. When he is shipped in large
lruytS iu lie markets q ready sale l.
generally found for him as he Is a
good killer and on account Of his gen
eral makeup his weight is very de
cpiVinG to The most critical eve ana
pleasant surprise 10 the seller Is
generally in store after the hoe has
been sold and crosses the scales.
Where slurkmrn propose -r#Zin-
their hogs most of The time, the Brrk-
shire has been found to he exceed
m~ly profitable and when taken up
for SIXTY days feed to harden up The
flesh. he responds 10 this Kind of
treatment very rapidly. Gross bred
hogs sired by a Berkshire have been
found to be great success ana many
China cross hard to heat for feed lot
purposes. hui when il comes to Sc
iectin= SOW, to pUl in lhr breeding
herd from This continuation such good
results are seldom ever obtained.
The Berkshire WAS introduced into
this country between 1888 ana 1870
and from lhio breed WAS Developed
The poland-China h0@. Most Of Inc
hogs used in lhiS country prior to tha
period Were white. but with The Berk-
shire came the solid black no" with
six white points. This probably il rc-
SpOnShlr to considerable degree for
the present fancy colur of ne Poland
China. To the Berkshire most crcilj
Is due for establishing ihH fact tu2I
line breeding in swine i much mHrr
superior tu the development uf WI
hr"odn- herd Than IN croo, breeding.
Line breeding consists iii mtiiu- ami
m3l- that are pure bred and are Of lhr
same breed. which ar" bred along 9in-
liar lines or Of the same family. All
experienced feeders ana breeders ufI
swine have long aGn established lhr
fact that this j. the best form utI
=rlhcr animals illat are similarly bred
and consequently more ur less similar
in type.
one of the main factors in bringing
the Berkshire hog up la a high stand
ard of excellence which has now ai
tanned in this country WAS the method
known as close breeding. II consisted
in the mating of animals that are clner
ly related but still moi close enuu-h
10 be considered in breeding. This
method uf breeding ha, been success
fully practiccd by great many breed
cr>. Mr.. n. II. Gentry of -rdalia. Mo-.
nZed in the Berkshire world as tile
men who have made a thorough sue
rnsS in what i known a. close breed
ing. Only men who have inherent love
for The breeding Of live stock ShouId
try this way of breeding because il j.
only a few ii life time that can
make success. Mr.. Gentry's main
argument for The hcttcrmcni of Bork-
shire breeding is the fact that ''If AM
mails are properly selected 80 that HEY
have no weak spots in common which
may bc transmitted ana fixed in til"
offspring, il i a good practice, be
cause it has greater tendency iuI
liT points either good or had than by
out crossing or line breeding" The
writer has always coniended in the
breeding of high class pure bred stock
that if animals are 50 mated thai they
have only good points in common.
these points will naturally be more
readily transmitted to. and more per
manrntIy fixed in the OffSprin-.