160 Farm Poultry 



many benefits, and will cease the practice before 

 positive injuries accrue. It may safely be asserted, 

 that promiscuous or indiscriminate in-and-in-breed- 

 ing should not be practised. 



Farmers sometimes select from their young 

 fowls the best cockerel to head the flock the next 

 year, and hold that as long as they are breeding 

 from their best stock, improvement should follow. 

 In so doing, they perhaps forget that the weaknesses 

 are moredikely to be multiplied in the progeny than 

 the desired characteristics. 



Anything like general or flock in-and-in-breeding 

 should not be attempted; neither should in-and-in- 

 breeding be practised by any except careful and 

 keen observers who have a good knowledge of the 

 animals with which they are dealing and are able 

 to detect tendencies for good or evil at an early 

 stage of development. 



Cross-breeding. This may be defined as breed- 

 ing together animals of two distinct breeds. For 

 many years cross-breeding was a favorite method, 

 and probably became popular because of the fre- 

 quently observed fact that increased vigor was 

 imparted by it. During the eighteenth century, 

 animals were frequently cross-bred, which, undoubt- 

 edly, produced in the progeny a plasticity of con- 

 stitution and well prepared them for the hands of 

 skilful breeders who later attempted to improve them. 



Crossing does not always bring improvement, 



