62 POUL TR T- CRA FT. 



69. Comparison of the Kinds of Fowls. With other than pure bred 

 fowls the progressive poultry keeper has little to do. With common or 

 mongrel fowls he concerns himself least of all. That some mongrel hens are 

 healthier and more prolific than some high class stock, is true. The converse 

 of the proposition is equally true. As between all common hens and all pure 

 bred hens, there is little to be said for common hens. The experience of 

 most of those who are thoroughly familiar with both classes of stock has been 

 that, with rare exceptions, they could get better practical results from thor- 

 oughbreds taken at random than from the most carefully selected common 

 stock. The pure bred fowl is the result of selections extending through a 

 long course of years. However faulty selection may at times have been from 

 the economic point of view, the general result has been infinitely better than 

 the natural selection which was given free course in the common fowls. It 

 is not advised that a flock of mongrels doing well or fairly well be discarded 

 out of hand, and a new beginning made with pure bred stock. It is advised 

 that the mongrels be either graded up to the type of thoroughbred best suited 

 to the keeper's purpose, or be gradually replaced with thoroughbred stock. 



As between cross and pure bred fowls$ it may be said that rarely is there 

 produced a cross the good qualities of which cannot be paralleled in one or 

 more pure breeds. Grades having three-fourths or more of the blood of a 

 pure breed will usually be on a par in utility qualities with the average of that 

 breed. Crossing and grading are ordinarily to be resorted to only for the 

 purpose of utilizing stock on hand. They are emergency methods. A poul- 

 tryman who continuously produces fowls of impure blood throws away one 

 of his best chances of profit ; for in the long run it costs no more to produce 

 pure stock ; and while sometimes pure stock of good quality has to be sold at 

 the market price for poultry, it is certain that crosses and grades will not 

 at any time bring much more than market prices not often enough more to 

 pay for advertising and cooping for shipment. It is the hereditary fixedness 

 of certain desirable qualities and characters that gives the popular varieties of 

 purebred fowls (whether bred for utility or fancy) their superiority as 

 money makers. 



or value of a breed. Breeds and varieties which never become popular with any class of 

 poultry keepers are recognized in the Standard, while useful breeds quite widely popular 

 are rejected. Of more than seventy varieties of fowls, (excluding bantams), described in 

 the Standard, less than half are popular, f. e., varieties commonly bred; and of these 

 less than half, again, are popular in the sense of being commonly and extensively bred, 

 bred by those who keep fowls on a large scale. 



+NOTE. American Poultry Association, an organization of poultry breeder^ and 

 fanciers, composed of persons who, their applications having been approvec by vote of 

 the association, become life members on payment of a fee of $10. Though not a 

 representative organization, its Standard descriptions are accepted by nearly all poultry- 

 men, even those who breed for economic purposes breeding to Standard types as closely 

 as they can without sacrificing utility qualities as would be done in some cases by strict 

 adherence to the Standard. 



