54 MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK 



female. Then, by crossing 1 and 2, the result is group 3, which pos- 

 sesses equal parts of the blood of 1 and 2. Selecting the best pullet 

 from 3 and mating to her sire 1, group 4 is produced, which con- 

 tains three-fourths of the blood of the original sire and one-fourth 

 of the blood of the original dam. In a like manner the best cock- 

 erel from 3 mated to his dam 2 produces group 5, which is made 

 up of three-fourths of the blood of the original dam and one-fourth 

 of the blood of the original sire. Proceeding in a similar manner 

 by mating the original parents to their offspring in the third gener- 

 ation, we obtain at groups 6 and 7 offspring which contain either 

 seven-eighths the blood of the original sire and one-eighth of the 

 blood of the original dam, or seven-eighths the blood of the original 

 dam and one-eighth the blood of the original sire, as the case may 

 be. Thus the blood of the original sire has been practically elim- 

 inated from the female line, and the blood of the original dam from 

 the male line. If the original parents were still in breeding con- 

 dition, the blood of each could be intensified to 15-16 in the fifth 

 generation. To obtain the original cross, however, at any gener- 

 ation after the second, it is only necessary to select parents from 

 corresponding groups on each side of the line, as for instance, a cock- 

 erel from group 6 mated to pullets from group 7 will produce, in 

 the fifth generation, group 9, which contains mathematically one- 

 half the blood of the original pair. Similar results can be obtained 

 by selecting parents from 4 and 5. 



The fifth and sixth generations, as shown in the chart, indicate 

 only a few of the possible groups that may be obtained from vari- 

 ous matings. 



The danger of using new stock not akin to one's own is far 

 greater than the danger of line-breeding vigorous birds of known 

 pedigree, as is proven by the following case in point : A breeder of 

 Reds who had sold a fine pen two years previously of such excel- 

 lence that she felt safe in buying back a cockerel raised from them, 

 resembling in every way the sire sold, for the pen had been care- 

 fully line-bred and mated for best results ; she used this bird with 

 her finest hens and sold eggs from them, and every chick of this 

 cockerel's get had white feathers enough to disqualify it. After 

 this cockerel moulted, the beautiful red of his plumage was sprink- 

 led all through with patches of white feathers. Close inquiry di- 

 vulged the fact that the breeder had allowed his Reds and Whites 

 to run together until a few weeks before mating time, trusting to 

 this short period of time to remove the bad effects of commingling, 

 Now, scientific men maintain that the danger of contamination of 

 the female is far greater than is generally believed. Some even 

 assert that a pullet's first mating influences her whole progeny, no 

 matter how carefully she may be mated thereafter, and that the 

 taint of foreign blood can never be eliminated from her offspring. 

 There is much of truth in this theory, for the blood of the mother 

 partakes of the blood of the sire through the blood of the unborn 

 germ, whether egg or foetus, circulating through her. We can 

 never be too careful to keep our hens and pullets safely yarded, 

 and we should beware of strange males as of the plague itself. 



