J.70 AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION 



trouble and apnoyance of being obliged to have two different 

 styles of mating is obvious to any one, and it utterly befogs 

 amateurs. 



. "There is no necessity for this. The best mating for breed- 

 ing purposes is that of No. 5, and this is or should be the same 

 as No. 4. Mating No. 1 is urged by many as the proper one ; and 

 where a beginner has no really suitable birds, and does not feel 

 able to pay the prices demanded for the finest ones, he will do 

 very well with fine bred stock mated in this way ; that is, he 

 will obtain a certain percentage of the progeny fitted for a proper 

 mating the next season. 



"But where you have already obtained the desired medium 

 by careful breeding, it is worse than useless to again return to 

 the extremes and expect more favorable results. Mating No. 2 

 is objectionable, and should not be practiced, except as a neces- 

 sity to utilize stock, and even then seldom proves satisfactory. 

 Mating No. 3 should never be made use of ; as the pullets from 

 such a mating would run from very dark to black, while the 

 cockerels would be splashed with black or too dark either for 

 the breeding or show-pen. Possibly a few cockerels could be 

 obtained fit to be exhibited, but they would not be suitab'e to 

 use as breeders, and their proportion would be very small. 



"It is impossible also to obtain by this mating any number 

 of chicks having the required yellow legs and beaks. They will 

 invariably have legs either dark or spotted. This is a disquali- 

 fication in exhibition birds, and, of course, destroys all but their 

 economic value. 



"If birds exactly alike could always be bred from, or if the 

 mingling of like elements always produced the same results, 

 there would be but little difficulty in breeding exhibition birds 

 by the score ; but such is not the fact." 



No. 1, as stated by the author, was excusable when one had 

 no better birds and no money to procure them. All will agree 

 with him. Females come too dark, males too light; yet mate 

 the culls together. One method; yes, the poorest that can be 

 thought of. 



No. 2 is an evidently desperate method to secure Standard 

 colored specimens of both sex. 



The author condemns, in toto, number three. Yet, by this 

 method of mating, the rich and beautiful males of the present 

 day are produced and more than that, it was by this method 



