88 PO UL TR T- CRAFT. 



Where competition is as active as among poultry breeders, the inexperienced 

 buyer need not fear lest he pay too much for good stock ; though it must be 

 said that he sometimes pays a good price for poor stuff. (Another condition 

 not peculiar to the poultry business) . One soon learns where to buy the stock 

 he wants. Taken all in all, beginners lose more through their own blunders, 

 many of them inexcusable, in selecting and ordering stock, than through the 

 deceit, and cupidity of dishonest breeders. All reputable breeders ship stock 

 on approval. If not found as represented, it may be returned, and the money 

 refunded, less express charges. Sometimes a breeder sending stock a short 

 distance agrees to pay the return express in case the stock is not as repre- 

 sented. In general, the buyer pays express both ways : an arrangement not 

 unfair to the buyer who risks only the amount of transportation, while the 

 seller risks the full value of the fowls. The safest course for a beginner is to 

 buy of well known breeders. He may pay a little more for the stock, but the 

 reputation of the breeder affords a measure of protection to the buyer not 

 versed in the points and qualities of different stocks. A breeder who has 

 made a reputation does not knowingly risk it by misrepresenting his stock, or 

 in any way defrauding his customers. It often happens that amateurs offer 

 equally good stock at lower prices than the established breeder. One who is 

 himself a judge of the stock may well take advantage of such opportunities. 

 A novice runs more risk. Often when the amateur sells good stock cheap 

 it is because he does not know its value, in which case it becomes simply a 

 matter of chance whether the buyer gets what he pays for, or something 

 better, or worse. In buying from a breeder of good repute, a beginner wil) 

 be safer to take the breeder's word for the quality and value of the stock, thar 

 his own judgment or the expression of opinion of those no better informed 

 than himself. (Especially is this true in buying breeds in which special 

 -matings are required to bring out the colors in perfection) . A novice often 

 :gets the mistaken idea that a certain feature is a sort of breed birth mark, or 

 itrade mark, none genuine without it. The experienced breeder's judgment 

 iof :a fowl strikes the proper balance of defects and excellencies. He knows 

 what is back of the birds he sells, and what kind of progeny they are likely to 

 produce. 



A common error of beginners is to buy males and females of different 

 breeders, in order to be sure of unrelated stock ; this almost uniformly gives 

 poor results. (The reasons for this will be presented in the chapter on 



not know how large a portion of the stock is worth only market prices, and has no idea 

 what it costs the breeder to advertise and sell stock. When one comes to sell his own 

 stock he finds that prices are adjusted by the inexorable laws of supply and demand, and 

 that a breeder must be able to raise a good percentage of stock of fair quality, and sell it 

 seasonably at prices well up to the average, if his year's account is to show a balance 

 on the right side of the ledger. It is worth noting here that the customary method of 

 figuring profits on poultry includes in the cost only labor which has been paid for in 

 cash. In most instances the statement of profit really includes the poultryman's time, 

 and is not all clear prof t. 



