rUBCHASINC FOWLS, 119 



too high to admit the suspicion of any wilful deception. Such 

 breeders, it is true, will generally demand high prices for really 

 good stock ; but then the stock will be good, which is by far 

 the most important point. Birds may also be purchased at 

 shows ; and good specimens may often be picked up at a very 

 moderate price, especially out of the large "selling-classes"* at 

 the Crystal Palace or Birmingham. A beginner should, how- 

 ever, if posible, get some experienced friend to help in such 

 selections, and even then he cannot always escape loss; for 

 some very old birds will look uncommonly fresh and young, or 

 a hen may be sold for some vice. We knew of an uncommonly 

 cheap purchase of a fine Dorking hen, apparently worth many 

 times her price ; and it was only found after purchase that she 

 was an inveterate egg-eater, and unfit for that reason to be in 

 any breeding-yard. 



The old system of exhibiting a cock and two hens together 

 has for years been discarded ; and it is therefore unnecessary 

 to purchase both sexes of the same family. But to have them 

 from one yard is rather an advantage than otherwise, as freshly- 

 crossed birds often breed very erratically. Indeed, as Mr. 

 Darwin has shown, fresh crossing has a direct tendency to cause 

 reversion to the type of far-back ancestors. 



At the very outset the question occurs, What is the bes/ 

 age to breed from ? and we have no hesitation in replying that, 

 according to the testimony of nearly all the best authorities, it 

 is better the ages of the cock and hens should vary. It seems 

 also generally admitted that the strongest and best chickens 

 are produced from a cockerel nearly a year old mated with hens 

 twelve months older ; but, unfortunately, the chickens of such 

 parents invariably have a large proportion of cocks, and most 

 breeders therefore prefer a two-year-old cock with well-grown 



* Selling-classes are classes in which prizes are given for fowls 

 entered for sale at prices not exceeding fixed moderate sums, generally 

 80s. or 40s. per pair. 



