Improvement of Common Stock 167 



ing have proved to be the most desirable fowls 

 for the farm. Some of them, to their sorrow, have 

 tried to maintain the fine appearance and highly 

 useful qualities of these fowls by selecting breeding 

 stock from the general flock. Consequently, the 

 next generation was less satisfactory and the third 

 and fourth were disappointing. This condition has 

 been most noticeable when the pure-bred male 

 and the more or less indifferent females have repre- 

 sented quite marked differences in type. Instead of 

 selecting a male from the general flock, another 

 pure-bred male of the same breed as the first 

 should have been secured. This process is known 

 in stock-breeding as "grading up." The larger 

 the proportion of pure-bred blood the higher the 

 grade. 



In breeding for egg production it is held to be of 

 great importance to select males whose female 

 ancestors possessed the desired characteristics to 

 a marked degree. The fact that the characteristics 

 of our fowls are transmitted through the male 

 makes it comparatively easy for the poultryman to 

 improve his flock through the introduction of supe- 

 rior pure-bred males. It is held by some that egg 

 production, which is a reproductive function, is 

 transmitted almost wholly through the male. How- 

 ever, the conservative breeder will be slow to entirely 

 give up certain practices as to selection that in 

 the past have apparently been potent factors for 



