668 BOARD OF AGEICULTUEE. 



able to stand forcing AA^hile young is why so many marliet breeders are 

 dropping the Plymouth Rock for Wyandottes. With experienced breed- 

 ers the Wyandottes have proven a better winter layer than the Rocks. 

 They also have the advantage of a rose comb, which makes them less 

 liable to be frozen. 



The Brahma is not, as a rule, a farmer's fowl. Though a large breed 

 they are slow in maturing, and unless especially bred for egg produc- 

 tion for several years, are poor layers. The flesh is much coarser than 

 either the Plymouth Rock or the Wyandotte. A Brahma is never better 

 satisfied than when eating or sitting and the two occupy most of their 

 time. True, there are exceptions to all rules. 



One that we are personally acquainted with is a Mr. Woods, of 

 Pecksburg, Ind. And, by the way, he is a farmer, too. This gentleman 

 has been a breeder of the Light Brahma for years. He has been careful 

 in his selection of eggs, selecting from the best laying hens year after 

 year, until he now has a strain that do very little incubating and are 

 splendid layers. I will also say this man has won more prizes on Light 

 Brahmas than any man in the State. This simply shows what can be 

 done by selecting the best and breeding from them. 



About the same may be said of the Cochin, as the Brahma, as a farm- 

 er's fowl, with the exception that the meat of the Cochin is much finer 

 than that of the Brahma. The Langshan is a good winter layer, but 

 its color, both as to feather and flesh, makes it a poor market fowl. 

 The Minorca is a good layer of large eggs, but a poor market fowl for 

 the same reason as the Langshan. Then comes the egg machines of 

 America, the Leghorns. Not large, but the flesh is fine and juicy when 

 properly cared for. We have other breeds, such as the Indian Games, 

 Hamburgs, Houdans, Polish, the Dorkings, the great French breed, and 

 the new breeds, the BufC Orphingtons and the Rhode Island Reds. But 

 the breeds generally found among the farmers are the Barred Ply- 

 mouth Rock, White or Silver Wyandottes, the Brahma or the Brown 

 Leghorn. Or, as more generally the case, a mixture of these breeds. 



But after all this, the success of any breed depends on the care it 

 gets. The best breed in America will not pay expenses unless properly 

 cared for. Herein lies the success or failure of poultry raising. 



Then we have the ducks and geese, and, lord of the farm, the tur- 

 key. 



To make a financial success of duck raising one must be near a 

 market for young ducks. Yet there is some money in ducks, if after a 

 few weeks of age they are given free range. It is a mistaken idea 

 that ducks must have a pond to swim in. The largest breeders of the 

 East never allow their ducks on the water. These breeders raise from 

 six to twenty thousand ducks every year. All the water they get is 

 what they get from the drinking troughs. . Ducks eat at least one-third 

 more than chickens but grow just twice as fast. Most profit comes 



