PLYMOUTH ROCK STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 395 



hatched will amount to considerable as the stock grows up 

 and develops, and is in turn bred from to build up the flock. 

 Poor eggs, or even good eggs from poor or ordinary stock, 

 are expensive at any price, because they make it impossible for 

 the breeder to progress as he must, in order to be successful. 

 In many cases, buying eggs proves a very inexpensive method 

 of getting some of the finest chicks. It frequently happens 

 that a setting of eggs sold for five, ten, or perhaps, in extreme 

 cases, twenty-five dollars produces a single bird which is worth 

 many times the original cost of the eggs. The writer recalls 

 cases in which settings of purchased eggs produced first prize 

 winners at several fairly prominent poultry shows. 



Breeding Stock. To start with, the purchase of breeding 

 stock requires more capital if the stock is first class, but on 

 the other hand a good trio or pen will supply several settings 

 of eggs. There is, moreover, a certain satisfaction in possess- 

 ing the fowls and considerable pleasure in feeding and caring 

 for them. When adopting this method of getting a start, it is 

 best to buy mature specimens, or at least those which are 

 nearly mature, in the case of young stock. Quarters and equip- 

 ment must be provided before the fowls arrive. It is just as 

 important to select the variety which appeals most to the 

 purchaser when buying stock as when buying eggs, and it is 

 also just as important to buy from a breeder who has a good 

 reputation for the quality of his stock and whose business has 

 developed to the point where one is justified in believing that 

 it is founded on honesty in his dealings. While this may not 

 be as important when the experienced poultry breeder is pur- 

 chasing, it is something that the beginner should not over- 

 look. 



Here again, the quality of the stock individually and the 

 ability of the family, or line, from which it comes to repro- 

 duce its good qualities of shape and color as well as its strength 

 and vitality, are important matters to consider. Inasmuch as 

 the success of a reputable breeder depends considerably on 

 his ability to build up a strain, the individuals of which will 

 breed true to character, we find here another reason for patron- 

 izing a man with an established reputation. As such a breeder 

 knows the parentage of the members of his flock, and also how 

 to mate each individual member for the best results, a faculty 

 which is founded on his knowledge of the breeding tenden- 

 cies of his line, it is always best to have the breeder mate the 

 fowls which the novice purchases. If this is done, the inex- 



