SELECTING A BREED 



mischief; that will not require an extra-high fence 

 to keep them enclosed ; that will stand confinement 

 if not too close and severe; that are both good mar- 

 ket birds and good egg producers to him I would 

 recommend one of the American breeds. 



The man who wants a quiet, easily confined 

 breed, that are fair layers and extra-large table 

 fowls, ought to give the Brahmas his first consid- 

 eration, with the Cochins next in order. The 

 Brahmas are also fairly good for producing broil- 

 ers, and without a superior for roasters. Large 

 broiler growers, however, find the Plymouth Rocks, 

 Wyandottes or Rhode Island Reds, best adapted to 

 their purpose, as they feather out more rapidly and 

 mature quicker. 



The man anywhere, and with any sized flock, 

 who wants eggs and eggs alone, should confine his 

 attention strictly to the Mediterranean breeds ; they 

 are the egg producers par excellence. While all 

 are good layers, the Leghorns and Minorcas are 

 probably the best. The Leghorns are usually cred- 

 ited with the ability to lay more eggs in a year than 

 the Minorcas, but the Minorca eggs usually aver- 

 age considerably larger, and that often is a point 

 which one cannot afford to overlook, inasmuch as 

 the time is coming when eggs in America will be 

 sold by the pound instead of by the dozen.* The 



* This method of selling eggs is at the present time practiced in most for- 

 eign countries and in a few of the Western States of the United States. 



105 



