THE "FANCY" 



dred or more varieties has its own special points of 

 beauty and merit. Not only are these fowls beau- 

 tiful in form and color, but they are valued at 

 what seem like ridiculously long prices to one who 

 has never paid attention to the matter. At Amer- 

 ica's great shows, where the best of each variety 

 is placed on exhibition, one hundred to one thou- 

 sand dollars frequently are asked for the first-prize 

 birds in the popular classes. One hundred to three 

 hundred dollars each have repeatedly been paid 

 for choice specimens, especially for male birds. 



These high prices mean something. Men are 

 not going to pay such large amounts for five to 

 ten pounds of chicken meat, bone and feathers, 

 unless there is a good reason for it. The extremely 

 high prices are not, however, founded so much 

 upon the utility or practical value of the birds as 

 upon their " fancy " excellence, that is, beauty of 

 form and feather. But while this is true, it is also 

 true that no other class of poultrymen has done so 

 much for commercial poultry as has the fancier. 

 He has greatly improved and developed not only 

 the fancy side of the business, but also the practical 

 side as well. The Plymouth Rocks and Wyan- 

 dottes, the most popular market varieties, are 

 strictly the production of the fancier, and all other 

 practical breeds and varieties, as well as the orna- 

 mental breeds, have been greatly benefited by his 

 work. 



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