12 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT 



sed poultrymen of the day." Columela two thousand years 

 ago described the fowl, and less than a hundred years ago 

 the description of the farm fowl of England corresponded 

 in nearly every respect to those described by Columela. 



Darwin says that "not only careful breeding but actual 

 selection was practiced during ancient periods and by bare- 

 ly civilized races of men. " It is pointed out that in early 

 times there were different breeds of fowls. Six or seven are 

 mentioned as being kept by the Romans at the commence- 

 ment of the Christian era. As proof that the work of selec- 

 tion has not all been confined to civilized people, it is shown 

 that the semi-barbarous people of the Philippine Islands 

 about fifty years ago had no less than nine varieties of the 

 game fowl. In the fifteenth century several breeds were 

 known in Europe, and in China about the same period seven 

 kinds were named. Finally, Darwin says: "Will it then be 

 pretended that those persons who in ancient times and in 

 semi-civilized countries took pains to keep breeds distinct, 

 and who therefore valued them, would not occasionally have 

 destroyed inferior birds and occasionally have preserved 

 their best birds ? That is all that is required. ' ' 



The work of modern times has not been so much to main- 

 tain the original purity of races as it has been to make new 

 breeds and varieties by fusing pure ancient races, to what 

 purpose will be discussed in a later chapter. Present-day 

 poultry breeders and livestock breeders breed for unifor- 

 mity. Their skill is exercised in producing uniformity in 

 the stock. A standard of excellence is set up, and the nearer 

 their fowls or animals approach that standard the greater 

 value they have in the market for breeding purposes. The 

 poultry shows demand a certain standard, and this calls 

 for uniformity. But uniformity does not permit of im- 

 provement or progress. It is clear that if two thousand 

 years ago a standard of excellence corresponding to the type 



