FOWLS, TABLE AND MARKET. 177 



combine the excellences, without the defects, of both 

 breeds, and the flock will consist not of a few of such 

 individuals, but they will be the great majority, if not 

 nearly all. This system of improvement is entirely differ- 

 ent from that followed ii) breeding pure, or in seeking to 

 establish a family or a breed. In the latter case we select 

 the breeding stock, both male and female, from those that 

 exhibit most perfectly the form and markings, or " point:^," 

 of the breed. In cross-breeding or in breeding grades we 

 select the full-blooded male in one case, and both parents 

 in the other, so that they shall present strong contrasts to 

 one another, taking care that points which we especially 

 value are strong in both. Thus we have a right to expect 

 that the points for which we are breeding shall have their 

 strongest development in the young of the j^rs^ generation. 



PRACTICAL POINTS. 



Thus in breeding fowls for the greatest weight at the 

 earliest stage at which chickens can be marketed as roasters, 

 we take Asiatic cocks, say Brahmas, and hens of some large 

 but more compact breed, especially those with some strength 

 of wing, for that accompanies a good development of the 

 muscles of the breast, — the best meat of the fowl, such, 

 for instance, as Dorkings or Plymouth Rocks, or one of 

 the excellent French breeds. 



If, however, we breed for quality of flesh and good size, 

 which in market fowls is always desirable, we should take 

 a Dorking cock, or perhaps one of the French breeds of 

 similar characteristics, and breed him to large game hens. 

 Thus the size will be fair, growth will be moderately rapid, 

 and the goodness of the flesh most remarkable. The bone 

 and offal will be small, and the flesh laid on most abundantly 

 on the choice parts. While for one's own table such fowls 

 would be much preferable to the larger kinds having a lower 

 quality of flesh, for profitable sale they would need to be 

 sent to a discriminatino: market. Such a one might be 

 created in a few years if the quantity of poultry marketed 

 would warrant it ; and, after a few years, fowls of this high 

 quality of flesh would be more profitable to raise than 

 larger or coarser ones. 



