PANG YY, POULTRY AS A PASTIME  -107 
gan writing him for eggs and stock. Now his 
bank account is annually swelled to a substantial 
degree — being a minister, it was never very large 
— by the profits he receives from his fancy fowls. 
However, it takes skill and experience to breed 
prize winning poultry. Some people never acquire 
the knack, while to others it seems to come naturally. 
The best way to begin is to buy a trio of carefully 
bred birds of the breed decided upon from a man 
who has a well-earned reputation at stake. Fifty 
dollars is not too much to pay for a male and two 
hens of really first-class stock. If that is more than 
the beginner can afford, he can buy less high priced 
birds, of course. An even less expensive way to 
begin is to buy a setting of eggs from a pen of 
high-grade birds. Starting with the best stock one 
can afford, simply puts one that much farther ahead. 
Having secured birds from a good strain, the 
amateur who works intelligently will seek to per- 
petuate the qualities of that strain. To carelessly 
introduce the blood of another strain would be rank 
folly. If a trio of birds has been purchased from 
a breeder who is wholly dependable, the amateur 
may be reasonably sure that the mating will pro- 
duce good chickens. The pullets hatched may be 
