The Republican., 1935-04-18
CountyAgent's Column
J. H. CARTER
Resident County Agent.
Office: Court House, Oakland, Nd.
How Purebreds Originated

hOH uIcUIcuS OTlSlIldteu
1t is puzzling, when we go to the
fairs and see the charging drafters,
the superb sirloin steak producers
walking around, the fine dairy cows
and the sleek porkers, all with breed
name and distinguishing characteris-
| tics. Just how did these pure breeds
originate? How were they developed
to their present state of perfection ?
Where did they get their names?
Typical of this development is the
Berkshire hog-the oldest pure breed
known. Some two centuries ago, in
England, the farmers near Reading in
the shire of Berks began producing
| better hogs than the farmers in ad-
| joining territories. Individual men
stood out as having hogs that were
better than those produced by everyone
else. Late in the eighteenth century
the names Of these men began to stand
for fine hogs. Then you purchased
"Stewart" sow from the herd of Ar
thur Stewart, or a "Stanwick" boar
from the herd of Russell Stanwick.
However, these men began to ex-
change breeding animals until the
hogs from the Stanwick herd, and the
Stewart herd, and the Heber Humph-
rey herd closely resembled each other.
1t was then that the breed was given
the name of the shire County, in
which they were raised, and became
known as the Berkshire" This hog
was noted at the time as outstanding
in it's proportion to ham and for quail
ity of meat. Farmers generally became
desirous of securing the hogs from
this section because they would bring
higher price in the leading markets.
Occasionally, in these early days,
the master breeders found that their
hogs were being bred too closely in
one family. They found their market
changing, and therefore imported from
other lands animals to improve their
own stock. From China they drew new
| blood to refine their large, coarse ma
| tive breed. Ut was not uncommon to
| find hogs weighing from 1000 to 1900
pounds at that time). The effect of the
Chinese hog was to refine the bone
| and reduce the offal of their hogs.
Soon stable color was adopted and the
breed took on the appearance of our
modern Berkshire.
Immigrants coming to this country
from England remembered the hogs
they had raised there. Soon a market
was created for these improved indi
viduals nthis country and the Berk-
shire moved to the United States. In
1875 the first record was established
for the purpose of recording the ances
try of these hogs. In this way a pur-
chaser of black and white hog was
assured by the registration papers
that his ancestors came from Berks
county in England.
American improvers moved forward
with the breed, moulding its charac-
| teristics to meet market requirements
in this country. Only animals of known
ancestry and those coming from Berk-
shire in England were eligible for reg
istry. Therefore certificate of regis
tration was a guarantee of quality.
Through this slow process of de-
velopment came our Oldest pure breed
of livestock. Other breeds originated
in similar manner. That the Berk
shire breeders have been successful
in their efforts to conform to market
requirements is shown by the results of
barrow shows throughout the world
The oldest breed still wins one-third
of all interbreed championships in the
market shows. When you go to the
fairs this fall, think of the years it
took to develop those fine individuals
of the livestock field and take your hat
off to these breeders.