In the draft class we have the Norman, Percheron, Clydesdale, and Belgian, and possibly some others, while the Cleveland Bay comes as near the general-purpose horse as any other breed. The importations that have given us the magnificent horses which are being used in this country have been made chiefly from France, England, Belgium, and Germany. The blood of the English thoroughbred and of the Arab has also contributed to the development of the qualities desired.
In no other class of stock produced in this country has the improvement been more marked than in the swine, and while there are probably half a score of breeds in the country, a look through the markets shows that probably 90 per cent of them are of the three following breeds: Poland-China (formerly called Magie), Berkshire, and Duroc or Jersey Red; although it is quite possible that the Chester White might take the third place. With the exception of the Berkshire, these may be called distinctively American breeds, and even the Berkshire has been so modified and improved as to almost lay claim to American origin. A few other breeds are kept pure in this country, particularly the Essex, Yorkshire, and Victorias; but they are bred to but a limited extent and then for a special purpose. One thing that makes it easy and rapid to improve swine is the fact that they mature so early, and that a new cross may be made every year if desired. The writer, living in that part of Miami Valley, in Ohio, where the Poland-China swine originated, has seen, in a quarter of a century, these hogs change in form and color and general characteristics, and these fixed so thoroughly that they could be depended on to reproduce them. As this breed existed in the fifties, they were coarse in form, mongrel in color, and slow in maturing, requiring from eighteen months to two years to be made ready for market. But to-day they are early maturing, can be put on the market at six months of age, weighing from 200 to 250 pounds, and are of uniform shape and color. They are still the leading breed throughout the great corn belt of the United States, and the herd-books have registered breeding stock to the number of many thousand.
The Berkshire hog was first introduced into this country in 1823, and a second importation was made in 1832, but there was no systematic breeding and care to preserve their purity, and grades were sold for pure-bred until the breed fell into disrepute; but in 1865 new importations were made of the finest animals to be found in England, and the merits of the breed became universally known. Though called a small breed, they are but little below the Poland-China in weight, and grades from Berkshire males on large rangey sows will give the finest possible hogs for the block; but these grades must not be used for breeding, or the stock will deteriorate.
The American Chester White hog originated in Chester County, Pennsylvania; but it is believed that there was an importation of white hogs from England in 1818. The breed, until within less than a quarter of a century, was coarse, large of bone, and slow of maturity, and sometimes would attain enormous weight, nearly 1000 pounds; but in the last quarter of a century they have been improved until they are a close rival of the best breeds we have.
The Duroc-Jersey Red seems to be a distinctly American breed, having a history dating back to 1824, but it is less than a half century since they came into prominence, and the improvement made in them in that time has put them near the front rank. One thing which caused their rapid increase was the belief that they were proof against swine-plague and hog-cholera, and they were boomed on that idea. But this did not prove true, and our intelligent farmers have learned that it is not in the breed but in the food and care that immunity from disease will be found. These hogs are of a beautiful red color, and of good form. The mothers are prolific and good nursers, and they mature early, making the choicest of pig pork at an early age.
No other class of animals has been subject to so much foreign competition or has figured to such an extent as a political factor as the sheep, and this, for more than a generation past, has kept the sheep industry fluctuating between a depression which destroyed all profit and a boom which placed fictitious values on them, and both extremes have worked harm to the industry. Yet through all these changes, those who have recognized the intrinsic value of the sheep and stuck to the work of improvement, have not only found the business profitable but have prevented the deterioration of the animals which threatened.
While swine are of no value until killed, the sheep gives two coupons in a year, one in the fleece and the other in the increase, and the breeder always has two distinct objects before him,—the production of wool and mutton. The breeds of sheep are almost as dissimilar as are horses from cattle, and some are suited for hot arid lands, while others are adapted to the rich lowlands with their abundant and succulent herbage. The most ancient of all breeds is the Merino; and those who have studied this question trace its descent back in direct line, probably, to the flocks of the patriarchs. For ages they have been the clothers of mankind, first with the skin and later with the fleece, and still they maintain a high, if not first, place among different breeds. They have been wonderfully improved, but the improvement has been along the line of increasing the value of the fleece rather than the carcass, and it has been changed from an animal that would produce two or three pounds of wool, and one which had bare belly and legs, to one which produces a fleece from the hoofs to very near the nose. It is within bounds to say the weight of the fleece has been doubled.
With the long-wool breeds the improvement has been designed to develop the carcass and mutton qualities rather than the wool, and of these the two typical breeds are the Shropshire and Cotswold. Probably the best mutton lambs that are produced in this country are from the Shropshire rams and Merino ewes. The representative Cotswold is of majestic port and large size. The wool is curly, long, and lustrous; not dry and harsh to the touch, and has but a slight amount of yolk; at maturity it ought to be eight inches long. The fleece averages six or seven pounds.