SMALL HOLDINGS 1G7 



'fancier' has, in a word, spoiled everything 

 which he has attempted to improve. These 

 remarks are made with the object of pointing 

 out to the poultry-breeder for profit the 

 danger of relying upon pure-bred varieties. 

 Happily, the facts we have mentioned were 

 recognised some fifteen years ago, when a 

 movement was started with the object of 

 breeding poultry for utilitarian purposes. 

 Hens are naturally intended, as we are bound 

 to believe, for the production of food for man, 

 and in consequence of the acceptance of this 

 fact utilitarian poultry-breeders set to 

 work with the object of improving the 

 laying and meat-producing powers of those 

 breeds which are best adapted to the pur- 

 pose, and their efforts have been accom- 

 panied by marked success, although the 

 system for breeding to feather is equally as 

 strong. 



Among the more modern varieties of poultry, 

 such as the Wyandotte, the Orpington, the 

 Leghorn, and the Plymouth Rock — the last- 

 ^amed was introduced into this country by 

 the writer of these lines nearly forty years 

 ago — there are some which possess consider- 

 able value for utility purposes, but it 

 may be remarked that tlie more modern the 



