POULTRY. 293 



with their unrivalled plump breasts of snow and delicate salm- 

 on color ; and those beautiful representatives of France, the 

 black Crevecoeurs and speckled Houdans, who wore their crests 

 as proudly as if they were true patents of nobility ; snow-white 

 Sultans stood side by side with black and golden Polands ; and 

 exquisitely penciled gold and silver Hamburgs and Games, 

 whose beauty of plumage and gracefulness of form and carriage 

 seemed to fill up the full measure of perfection, paraded their 

 charms by the side of Leghorns, whose plumage, white as drift- 

 ed snow, seemed to turn the crimson of their combs to scarlet. 

 Last, and not least, those exquisite miniatures of their race, the 

 black, red and silver Game Bantams, seemed to fill out with Sir 

 John Sebright's pets the full bouquet of feathered splendor. 



Still farther on, coops of black, bronze and white Turkeys 

 were conspicuous beside smaller cages of Guinea fowl and Pig- 

 eons, and fine specimens of wild Canada, Bremen, Brant and 

 India Geese, Rouen and Aylesbury Ducks presented a pleasing 

 contrast. To cap the climax, a large blue Heron, placed by 

 some one on the upper tier of cages, stood sentinel over all, and 

 appeared the least interested and most unmoved of all the spec- 

 tators. 



We do not forget, however, while paying tribute to the gen- 

 eral attractions of this department, that its beauty is its least 

 important feature. We hear constantly the inquiry made, 

 " Does it pay the farmer to keep pure breeds ?" We think such 

 an exhibition as this goes farther to answer such questions sat- 

 isfactorily than any number of arguments without the ocular 

 demonstration. 



For one of the trios of the Cochin variety on exhibition the 

 owner had refused an offer of one hundred dollars, and yet, this 

 same trio, if killed and sold at market prices, would hardly have 

 brought more than six or eight dollars. We are aware that this 

 is an exceptionably high price, but it can hardly be doubted that 

 the average value of our best thoroughbred varieties is two or 

 three hundred per cent, higher than ordinary mixed breeds. 



This results from the knowledge which is being every day 

 more widely extended and more deeply impressed, that only 

 pure breeds transmit with certainty their desirable characteris- 

 tics. This is the whole gist of the matter in a nutshell. It is 

 beginning to be generally admitted that the same principles 



