PO UL TR T- CRAFT. 87 



of the fancier is only completely rounded out when he sees his creations- 

 becoming popular. For this it is necessary that he should not work at random y 

 but with definite ends in view, and a full realization of the style and quality of 

 fowl likely to please and gain favor. The maker of new breeds needs to be 

 very familiar with the old ones, and also to have a comprehensive view of the 

 conditions and tendencies of the poultry world. 



110. Buying Stock. Some General Observations. It is presumed 

 that one who has studied the subject thus far knows what kind of stock he 

 needs. That is the kind of stock he should buy. If he wants to produce first 

 rate stock of any kind he cannot do it from second rate (or worse) stock. It 

 is folly in most cases to grade up inferior stock. It is to refuse to accept in 

 yW/the results of the work of the best breeders. Most of those who do this 

 make the plea that they cannot afford to buy better stock. Whatever the 

 object a poultryman has in view, he cannot afford to buy stock other than 

 the best suited to that object.* 



The trouble with most new breeders is, they are too eager to begin selling 

 stock before they have produced it. They are not satisfied to begin*with just 

 enough breeding birds of best quality to hatch their own chicks. They must 

 sell eggs for hatching from the start. 



Suppose a man has ten passably good pullets of a popular variety worth 

 one dollar each. He wants to grade up his stock with the ultimate object of 

 producing first class breeding and exhibition birds. He pays ten- dollars for a 

 male to mate with these ten females, expecting to get a number of chickens 

 worth five to ten dollars each, few worth less than two dollars. He may raise 

 three to four hundred chicks in a single season from that pen, and the prob- 

 ability is that after a season of hard work he will have not a single chick worth 

 five dollars, very few worth as much as two dollars, and the most no better 

 than the parent hens. If he has sold eggs from such a mating, he has done 

 his prospective business more harm than good. 



Now if, instead, he had sold the ten pullets for ten dollars, and invested 

 that amount in two hens of good quality, and bred on the right lines to mate 

 with the male, he could, with "good luck," raise sixty to eighty chicks, more 

 than half of which would be better than the best from the other mating. Just 

 so in breeding for eggs, or meat, or any other feature. The beginner should 

 always start with stock best for his purpose, whatever that may be. 



Except for those who wish to breed exhibition stock of finest quality, it is 

 not necessary to pay long prices. Nor are the prices asked for the stock of 

 fair to medium quality usually purchased by amateurs, market poultrymen, 

 and farmers, as exorbitant as a novice is inclined to think them. The usual 

 prices for such stock are low, rather than high, as one finds when he begins to 

 sell stock. f 



* NOTE. This does not except the case of one beginning as described in IF 103. He 

 buys mediocre stock to supply the first demand, and, later, higher class stock to prepare 

 for the future demand. 



tNoTE. A novice is misled as to the profits on good breeding stock, because he does 



