396 BOARD OF AGRICULTUKE. [Pul). Doc. 



BREEDS FOR THE FARM AND FARMERS AS POULTRY 



BREEDERS. 



BY JOHN H. ROBIXSON, EDITOR " FARM-POULTRY," BOSTON, MASS. 



When I was a boy in Illinois, thoroughbred fowls were 

 rare, and even less frequently found on farms than else- 

 where. But there was one thing about the farm flocks in 

 those days that I often think of with regret, that in the im- 

 provement of poultry stocks that feature has been lost; i.e. 

 the fowls in each flock and the flocks throughout each com- 

 munity were, in general, very much alike. 



To be sure, there was not the uniformity one finds to-day 

 in a lot of selected specimens from a stock of well-bred 

 birds. The best specimens Avere not to be compared with 

 the finest developed specimens of to-day, for either color, 

 shape or size. Yet I am inclined to think that, aside from 

 the matter of color, the average farm flock of those days 

 was more uniform than even the average fancier's flock of 

 to-day, and there are some breeds now popular for which I 

 would not except color, either. Observe that I do not 

 claim that the flocks of the old days were as good as those 

 of to-day, — only that they were more uniform. 



It is to be regretted that in the improving of flocks, which 

 has followed the introduction of new breeds, uniformity in 

 flocks and of the flocks in the same section have so seldom 

 been retained. There have been so many new and improved 

 l^reeds to select from, that as soon as people began to go 

 outside of their own immediate neighborhood to get new 

 blood, and to try to introduce blood that would improve 

 their flock, those who had before used the same kind of 

 stock began to use some very diflTerent stocks ; and, as they 

 still continued exchanging " roosters" and eo-gs with their 

 neiirhbors, the result was that the flocks often became fear- 



