Necessity for Arbitrary Staxdards. 113 



not contended," he says, " by any one, that a hen which weighs a pound or two more than another 

 will necessarily lay a greater number or a greater weight of eggs than a smaller one ; all the 

 superiority, therefore, in an extra pound of flesh, or perhaps of bone, is at the utmost measured by 

 the price that this extra pound will sell for in the market. Suppose that it turns out, as the result 

 of experiment, that this extra pound costs more to put on than the market price ; surely then it 

 cannot be considered that this extra weight is a merit, it must rather be looked upon as a demerit." 

 Passing on then to what he considers slwuld be the points to be encouraged, Mr. Gould advocates, 

 in the first place, the seeking of "the greatest weight in the smallest relative compass;" and in the 

 second, those breeds in which " the greatest bulk is concentrated round the most valuable parts." 



It is impossible to put such questions more forcibly and fairly than they have been put by 

 this able speaker, and we devote this short chapter to their answer, because they are constantly 

 asked by persons who only have a partial acquaintance with the subject or with the fowls them- 

 selves, and the answer has a very important bearing upon the question of poultry cultivation 

 considered as a whole. When, then, Mr. Gould complains that the arbitrary standards " tell us 

 nothing about the physiological condition of the birds — nothing about their capacity for laying on 

 flesh — nothing about their capacity for laying eggs — nothing about their powers of digestion and 

 assimilation — nothing about their hardihood" — and asks why they are not judged according to 

 these points ; the first answer which occurs after a little thought is the very simple one, that it 

 cannot be done. Such matters must of necessity depend chiefly upon testunony, and hence are 

 inadmissible in a show. We could not see in an exhibition pen which was the best layer of two 

 competing hens ; but colour, or shape, or size we can see, and therefore by these we determine, 

 since they are the only elements which can bring fanciers into visible competition. To go by 

 evidence would never be tolerated, and would lead to many evils which do not need to be here 

 specified. We need something which can be brought actually before our eyes ; and even with 

 regard to shape, the feathers in which a bird is clothed prevent such nice discrimination as is 

 possible in the case of a Shorthorn bull. The actual outline of the body cannot be seen, and to 

 decide by careful feeling would be simply impossible in the time given for judging large numbers 

 of poultry pens. We might point out that even in agricultural stock the incre seeking of such 

 " utility" points has degenerated into notorious over-fattening of the show beasts ; but the tu 

 quoqne argument has little place here, and we come back therefore to the evident necessity, from 

 the nature of the case, of certain plainly visible points by which judging may be determined. 

 Whatever these are, they would be equally arbitrary, and we may as well have the present as any 

 others, except where a fowl is evidently capable of improvement in beauty without losing the 

 characters of the breed. 



So with regard to size, Mr. Gould's objection is plausible, but will not stand the test of 

 consideration. When a man buys a ram at a high price, because both flesh and fleece are better 

 than the common breeds, the extra flesh and fleece of this ram will most certainly be worth only 

 an infinitesimal fraction of the price paid ; but the animal stamps these features on a progeny, and 

 in this way his cost is well repaid. So in poultry, it may cost five shillings to put on a fowl an 

 extra pound, which may only sell for ninepence in the market. But in the next generation 

 the extra pound will cost far less to produce ; and so in a little while a race is established which, 

 without special care, reaches a pound heavier than formerly. When established, this standard of 

 size is by the same means maintained, and is a permanent benefit ; for even were it the case that 

 an extra pound which sells for ninepence cost ninepence in food to produce it, there would still be 

 a gain, from the fewer number of fowls to feed, and hence less cost of labour, to produce a given 

 weight of meat. But this is not the case, for it is always found that large breeds tost less to 

 '5 



