8 PROFITS IK POULTRY, 



THE BEST BREED FOR MARKET PURPOSES. 



What follows in this chapter is from E. A. Samuels 

 of Massachusetts: I find it very difficult to answer 

 the question : " Which breed of fowls do you recommend 

 as being the best for market purposes ? " for it is almost 

 impossible to lay down as a guide any rule, or name any 

 particular breed, or cross, or variety which will net the 

 best results in every market. A great deal depends upon 

 the locality where the breeder is situated, and it also de- 

 pends upon whether the breeder desires "broilers," or 

 early or late " roasters." 



In the Philadelphia, Baltimore and New York mar- 

 kets, as well as among the Paris and London dealers, 

 chickens with white or light skin are preferred to those 

 with yellow skin, and consequently the Dorkings, Black 

 Spanish, Houdans, and other white skinned varieties or 

 their crosses always bring the best prices, and are in the 

 quickest demand, while in the Boston and the other New 

 England cities, and in Chicago, and perhaps some of the 

 other large western cities, where any decided preference 

 has been expressed, the yellow-skinned birds are in the 

 greater demand. 



In the Boston markets and hotels a lot of bright, yel- 

 low-skinned chickens will always command a better price 

 than will a lot of white-skinned birds, although the two 

 lots may have been fed precisely alike, and be in equally 

 as good condition ; this I have proved repeatedly, so that, 

 as I before stated, a great deal depends upon the intended 

 market. 



Many persons believe that the color of the chicken's 

 skin is governed largely by the kind of food the birds are 

 provided with; believing that yellow Indian corn will 

 produce a yellow-skinned chick, while wheat or oats will 

 cause the skin to be white. Although there may be some 

 little reason for this belief, I think that it cannot be re- 



