68 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Then, in breeding, aim to attain : first, beauty or symmetry ; 

 second, color ; and both coupled with merit as egg producers ; 

 and as the first two are to be transmitted in a greater degree 

 by the male, it becomes of great importance that he should 

 possess those desirable features. 



In selecting a sire, be sure that he is well bred, and comes 

 from a line of "good ones," a bird which is the counterpart of 

 his sire ; for then you have a double guarantee that he will 

 control the get. As a rule, the offspring breed back to the 

 grandsire. The sire and grandsire being alike, we start 

 with an almost certainty of success, if we do our part in the 

 mating. Having made our selection, we must put our foot 

 down and stand firmly to the rule of breeding to no sires but 

 this one, or males of his get, and none of them that do not 

 assume the likeness of the sire ; thus establishing a line, or 

 "strain of blood," which, in a single word, means uni- 

 formity. 



In the hen, secure first, productiveness as to eggs; second, 

 a robust constitution, coming from a long-lived race; third, 

 color ; lastly, symmetry : and from this mating select the 

 large pullets that most resemble the sire, and breed them 

 back to the sire. This second crop of birds will be three- 

 fourths the blood of the sire you selected as founder of your 

 strain. 



Now the more stubbornly the blood of the first dam gives 

 up to the blood of the sire, the more good it will do us when 

 subjected properly to him. 



Many select well-bred hens of a weakly constitution to 

 make the first cross, for they assert, and truthfully, that 

 the sire being so robust and strong, nearly all the chicks 

 favor the sire. This is all true, but it is also true that the 

 blood used in the hen is weak and will fail in lasting quality. 

 I like strong blood ; that which in the first cross seems to fight 

 for the breeding influence ; that which has got to be bred back 

 to the strain desired, and the control given if only by a pre- 

 ponderance of blood. We then get a lasting good from the 

 cross. Constitution and vital force must come from the dam, 

 form and color from the sire ; and in all the matings, the 

 introduction of new blood must be with a thought to that 

 end. 



