In the United States, swine have been an object of attention since its
earliest settlement, and whenever a profitable market has been found for
pork abroad, it has been exported to the full extent of the demand.
Swine are not, however, indigenous to this country, but were doubtless
originally brought hither by the early English settlers; and the breed
thus introduced may still be distinguished by the traces they retain of
their parent stock. France, also, as well as Spain, and, during the
existence of the slave-trade, Africa, have also combined to furnish
varieties of this animal, so much esteemed throughout the whole of the
country, as furnishing a valuable article of food. For nearly twenty
years following the commencement of the general European wars, soon
after the organization of our national government, pork was a
comparatively large article of commerce; but exports for a time
diminished, and it was not until within a more recent period that this
staple has been brought up to its former standard as an article of
exportation to that country. The recent use which has been made of its
carcass in converting it into lard oil, has tended to still further
increase its consumption. By the census of 1860, there were upward of
thirty-two and a half millions of these animals in the United States.
They are reared in every part of the Union, and, when properly managed,
always at a fair profit. At the extreme North, in the neighborhood of
large markets, and on such of the Southern plantations as are
particularly suited to sugar or rice, they should not be raised beyond
the number required for the consumption of the coarse or refuse food
produced. Swine are advantageously kept in connection with a dairy or
orchard; since, with little additional food besides what is thus
afforded, they can be put in good condition for the butcher.
On the rich bottoms and other lands of the West, however, where Indian
corn is raised in profusion and at small expense, they can be reared in
the greatest numbers and yield the largest profit. The Scioto, Miami,
Wabash, Illinois, and other valleys, and extensive tracts in Kentucky,
Tennessee, Missouri, and some adjoining States, have for many years
taken the lead in the production of Swine; and it is probable that the
climate and soil, which are peculiarly suited to their rapid growth, as
well as that of their appropriate food, will enable them to hold their
position as the leading pork-producers of the North American Continent.
The breeds cultivated in this country are numerous; and, like our native
cattle, they embrace many of the best, and a few of the worst, to be
found among the species. Great attention has been paid, for many years,
to their improvement in the Eastern States; and nowhere are there better
specimens than in many of their yards. This spirit has rapidly extended
West and South; and among most of the intelligent farmers, who make them
a leading object of attention, on their rich corn-grounds, swine have
attained a high degree of excellence. This does not consist in the
introduction and perpetuity of any distinct races, so much as in the
breeding up to a desirable size and aptitude for fattening, from such
meritorious individuals of any breed, or their crosses, as come within
their reach.