PLYMOUTH POCK STANDARD AND BREbt) BOOK 397 



a fact that the best results are usually obtained when the eggs 

 are bought after the breeding stock has had a chance to get 

 outdoors and exercise in the open air, because chicks from 

 such eggs come out at the time Nature intended they should 

 and all Nature is favorable to them. For this reason, it is 

 best to defer the purchase of the eggs which are to produce 

 next season's breeders until the latter part of April or the first 

 part of May in northern latitudes, and hatch as soon as the 

 grass begins to get green in southern latitudes. 



The average beginner buys stock when his interest is 

 highest, that is, generally during the show season, immediately 

 after the show season, or directly preceding the opening of the 

 breeding season, which begins about March first. At this 

 time of the year prices of breeding stock are generally at the 

 highest point because the poultryman has been to the expense 

 of keeping it through the winter and because there is more 

 demand for it. There is an advantage in buying at this time 

 because the stock is usually in good condition for breeding, if 

 supplied by a successful breeder, and the beginner can go right 

 to work increasing his flock. Again he secures his stock in 

 time to hatch chicks early in the season. 



One of the best times to buy old stock is in the summer, 

 when breeders are offering lower prices on the stock which 

 they used the season before, and which they do not require for 

 the season following. Young stock can be bought most rea- 

 sonably in the fall, at about the time when the breeder must 

 put it in winter quarters ; but it should not be bought at this 

 time unless it is sufficiently developed to show its quality. An 

 excellent opportunity is sometimes offered to purchase fowls 

 from mated pens, or to purchase entire pens in the late spring 

 after the breeder has secured a certain number of eggs from 

 them, and while there is still time for the new owner to raise 

 a nice flock of chicks. There is no best time to start with the 

 purchase of stock. That depends altogether upon conditions. 

 (H. A. N.) 



