134 THE PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPER* 



such a fowl may be so rare in that farm-yard stock of to-day, 

 that we may almost call it an individual variation ; however, 

 we have got it. Breeding from such a hen, it is probable 

 that a few (and only a few) of her chickens may show the 

 fifth toe, the greater part reverting to the common type. 

 Mating a five-toed cockerel of this produce to a five-toed 

 pullet, the number of five-toed progeny will be somewhat 

 increased ; but still (supposing as we have done, no appre- 

 ciable Dorking blood in the farm -yard), not many ; and the 

 four-toed progeny will still have little tendency to produce 

 five toes. But from these five-toed chickens again select a 

 pair to breed together ; we shall now find the tendency 

 vastly increased ; probably half the progeny might be five- 

 toed, and even the four-toed ones would produce more 

 or less five-toed chickens. In the next generation the 

 tendency would be so increased that probably very few 

 four-toed chickens would occur ; and in a generation or two 

 more a four-toed bird would be as rare as the five-toed one 

 originally was. We have accumulated into one direction 

 the transmissive tendencies of many successive generations, 

 and we have now a strain, a race which we can depend upon 

 with almost absolute certainty to produce birds with five 

 toes. 



Now suppose, we will not say the first single hen herself, 

 but even our first pair of birds from her with the five toes, 

 to be still alive after six years, as might easily be the case, 

 we might probably select from our last progeny a pair that 

 as nearly as possible resembled them both in that and other 

 points we might be unable to see any difference at all 

 between them as to the point in question. But their 

 breeding value would differ enormously. The first pair 

 have no tendency to be relied upon to any extent ; the last 

 pair can be depended upon as regards nearly every chick. 

 The first gives us nothing beyond individual features on 



