PLYMOl TH A'OCA N/ I \ />!/'/> A\D ttltKED BOOK 45 



that develops feathers that grow backwards, is immaterial. Only 

 those males and females that excel in the characteristics de- 

 manded by this particular race or kind of fowl, because those, 

 and only those that excel in the characteristics demanded, will 

 reproduce them in the greatest measure. 



Systems. In order to reach their goal, whatever that may 

 be, breeders of all kinds of poultry, for any and all purposes, 

 long ago adopted methods that were sure to prevent their birds 

 mating by natural selection and substituted selections of their 

 own. This has led to different systems of matings. At first 

 these were very simple, but the longer the fowls were studied 

 the more exacting standards became ; and the deeper breeding 

 problems were probed the more complicated they seemed, so in 

 time the system of mating became more or less complex, until 

 now, in some cases, the system itself, though simple in theory, is 

 such that the application becomes most complicated. There are 

 instances, however, when the system of mating, though seem- 

 ingly complicated, is very simple of application. In several well 

 known instances, the system that is the simplest and clearest to 

 understand becomes the most difficult to practice successfully, 

 while the one that is more complicated, theoretically, is found to 

 be more easily applied and more certain of results. 



Single Matings. In the beginning, whether mating for egg 

 production, large size, or certain excellencies in plumage, real 

 or imaginary, the breeder selected for his matings the specimens 

 of both sexes that nearest approached his ideals. This consti- 

 tutes what is now known as a single mating. That is, a single 

 mating is one in which both sexes conform more or less closely 

 to a certain ideal or standard ; each sex of the progeny of such a 

 mating is also expected to conform more or less closely to the 

 requirements of such an ideal or standard. Under the American 

 Standard of Perfection, a single mating consists of a male and 

 females that conform to a certain degree of approximation, at 

 least, to requirements for that breed and variety, as described 

 and portrayed in the afore-named Standard. As two females 

 alike in all respects have never been produced, a strict definition 

 of an ideal single mating would be a mating consisting of a 

 male and females conforming to the requirements of the Stand- 

 ard of Perfection, and the ideal results from an ideal single 

 mating would be sons like the sire and daughters like the dam. 



