The American Yorkshire is an American breed of large domestic pig. It is the most numerous pig breed in the United States.[3]: 14 It derives from pigs of the British Large White or Yorkshire breed imported from the United Kingdom or from Canada at various times from about 1830 to the mid-twentieth century.
History
The Yorkshire was the traditional pig of the county of the same name in northern England. Some pigs were imported under this name to the United States in about 1830. They were large and white, and – untypically – had large lop-ears; some of them at least may in fact have been from Lincolnshire rather than Yorkshire. Within a short time these were seen in Minnesota and, under a variety of names, in Ohio.[4]: 538
A stock company with the name American Yorkshire Club was started in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1893,[a] and a herd-book was begun. The first volume of this, published in 1901, listed 1264 animals; of these, approximately 40% were of the Small Yorkshire breed of small pig.[4]: 539 The first boar registered in the new herd-book had been imported from Canada, purchased from the Ontario Agricultural College; Canada was the source of most Yorkshire imports at this time.[4]: 539 The third edition of the herd-book in 1906 held animals registered in thirty-nine different states; the fifth edition of 1915 listed over 5300 pigs, of which only a handful were of the Small Yorkshire or Middle Yorkshire breeds.[4]: 539
These are the pig breeds considered to originate wholly or partly in Canada and the United States. Many have complex or obscure histories, so inclusion here does not necessarily imply that a breed is predominantly or exclusively from those countries.
