FOWLS 67 



is perhaps not really necessary to tell how dwarf races of fowls 

 originated ; but the belief that such races were unknown until 

 brought to Europe from the city of Bantam, in the Island 

 of Java, is so widespread that it can do no harm to give the 

 facts which disprove this and in doing so to show again how 

 easily artificial varieties are made by skillful poultry fanciers. 



FIG. 57. Bantams make good pets 



As has been stated, people who do not understand the close 

 relations of the different races of fowls, and do not know how 

 quickly new types may be established by careful breeding, attach 

 a great deal of importance to purity of breed. Hence, unscrupu- 

 lous promoters of new breeds have often claimed that they re- 

 ceived their original stock direct from some remote place or from 

 some one who had long bred it pure. The idea of assigning the 



