394 Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. [10 Jtly, 19111. 



A quite usual mating is the father to the daug-hters, also a sou hack 

 to the mothers, giving either three-quarter male, one-quarter female 

 blood on the one hand or vice versa. As the laying i)ropensity is 

 recognised as being handed down' from the son of a heavy laying hen 

 to his daughters, the advantage of pedigree will be at once recognised. 

 It is the present opinion of the writer that " in-breeding " is more 

 necessary in the case of the male than that of the female. 



On a well-known poultry farm in this State the following ma tings 

 were arranged between A and B, unrelated (bought) males and Y and Z, 

 unrelated females: — 



A was mated with Y, and B with Z. 



The progeny from both these matings achieved considerable success 

 in competitions. 



The second year a cockerel A-Y was mated with Z, and another 

 B-Z, was mated with Y. 



The third year a cockerel A-Y x Z was mated with a pullet B-Z x Y, 

 and a cockerel B-Z x Y was mated with a pullet A-Y" x Z. 



The result was instructive and interesting. One of the pullets from 

 the ;(A-Y X Z) X (B-Z x Y) mating was exceptionally large and robust, 

 and in a private test laid neary 300 eggs. 



A cockerel from the (B-Z x Y) x (A-Y x Z) mating Avas placed wnth 

 unrelated birds, and one of the pulleta from this mating is performing 

 exceptionally ^^11 in one of the current competitions. 



Unfortunately, the inner history of the pedigree of competition 

 birds is all to rarely known to the departmental officers, and, conse- 

 quently, much reliable data escapes unnoticed. 



"PICKING THE WINNERS." 



Whilst there is no definite method whereby it is possible to forecast 

 the actual number of eggs any hird will lay in a given period, experience 

 will undoubtedly enable the poultry breeder to select his best pullets for 

 testing, and also his best hens for the breeding pens. It should be 

 borne in mind that, while the egg-laying competitions have demon- 

 strated, and developed, the remarkable fecundity of the various 

 breeds, birds should never be mated on figures alone. Merely because 

 a hen has tested up to, or beyond, the coveted 300 ei^g mark does not 

 finally stamp her as a desirable breeder — she may be undersized or 

 undesirable in some other way — ^and it is necessary that the Avcight 

 limit be rigidly adhered to, to prevent deterioration. 



Attention must also he paid to type, although the question of type 

 admits discussion. The standards of perfection for most of the breeds 

 were fixed years ago, when 200 egge from a hen in a year were not 

 looked for, and a total of 250 eggs was conaidered impossible. These 

 standards were fixed by men interested in poultry from the exhibition 

 point of view for birds that got scant oi)port unity for demonstrating 

 their laying abilities, being travelled from one show to another and 

 in the interim treated, fed (and at times faked) for condition, plumage, 

 &c. The time has now come for carefully considered discussions 

 between those interested in birds solely from the exhibition stand-point 

 and those equally interested from the purely egg-laying point of view.' 

 In some cases concessions mav have to be made by both sides. For 



