G20 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. BOOK vn. 



offspring their own characteristics. Good points are reproduced, and 

 if the breeding has been carefully directed these are probably improved 

 upon, but bad points are also reproduced, and are liable to be 

 aggravated unless great care is taken. By skill and knowledge the 

 former can be increased and the latter diminished, if not altogether 

 removed, but it must be borne in mind that the bad qualities are apt to 

 return if vigilance is relaxed. The poultry breeder needs to have a 

 clear idea of the object he is aiming at, and must ever keep that end in 

 view. Those who have high-class exhibition poultry are most parti- 

 cular regarding the choice of stock birds, and will take an amount of 

 trouble which would be regarded as unnecessary by those who are 

 unaware of the importance of the matter. The result of years of care- 

 ful breeding may be upset by one injudicious cross, and though our 

 readers need not be so particular as those who breed merely for feather, 

 yet it is necessary to exercise considerable thought. It would be 

 foolish indeed to spoil a good strain for want of a little forethought and 

 trouble. 



Each of the sexes has a certain and defined influence upon the off- 

 spring, and knowing this we have a guide to enable us to select the birds 

 we require. The male parent affects the external structure, shape, 

 outward characteristics, and movements of the bird, whilst the female 

 parent controls the internal structure, the constitution, the temper, the 

 fecundity, and the habits. Here are Avell-defined lines upon which to 

 proceed. The question is often asked as to the relative value of pure 

 versus cross-bred stock. Our reply to this is the following quotation 

 from an admirable article by Mr. L. C. Norris-Elye, which appeared 

 in the " Live Stock Journal Almanack " : 



" It must be remembered that man's selections will be for external 

 characteristics. Meanwhile, nature is dealing with internal organs, 

 constitution, &c., so that both may combine to produce characteristics 

 more useful to man in the position in which he keeps them, and man's 

 work may indirectly affect these internal characters by the selection he 

 makes, and the treatment he gives his animals. In some cases the zeal 

 for beauty, or what the breeder considers beauty, may result in 

 temporary loss of some useful quality, if not entirely, yet in some 

 degree. Now it may be that selections of some breeds of fowls for 

 certain points of beauty have somewhat led to the neglect of their lay- 

 ing qualities, as the parents had not been selected for laying for many 

 generations. Still the capacity is rather dormant than destroyed, and 

 if it be wished to select for egg-laying capacity a high productiveness 

 could no doubt be soon attained. Pure breeding, therefore, simply 

 means careful, long-continued selection, with a defined object in view, 

 and carried on skilfully and carefully with a knowledge of the principal 

 laws of breeding, and without having recourse to raw crosses of other 

 strains. 



" If we reject pure breeding, we have no hope of improving our breeds, 

 whether of horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, dogs, fowls, pigeons, &c. We 

 are content to stay as we are, wanting nothing better. This lethargic 

 condition of mind is certainly not the characteristic of the English 



