244 



FANCIERS' JOURNAL AND POULTRY EXCHANGE. 



(For Fanciers' Journal.) 



PREJUDICES AGAINST POULTRY BREEDING. 



No. II. 



While many poultry breeders and dealers have acted in 

 bad faith toward their customers, yet many of the charges 

 which have been made have been without foundation ; they 

 have their origin in a mistaken idea as to what the buyer 

 had a right to expect for the purchase money. A man who 

 knows little about fowls goes to a show — say, for instance, 

 the Buffalo show — where some of the best breeders in the 

 nation have their very best birds on exhibition ; fowls which 

 could not be purchased at any price, and he admires them 

 very much. He goes home thinking of the fowls, and 

 finally determines to purchase, for himself. He obtains the 

 address of some breeder, sends him perhaps twelve or fifteen 

 dollars for a trio, which he considers an extravagant price, 

 and expects to get as good fowls as those he saw at the exhi- 

 bition, and is ready to charge the breeder with dishonesty 

 if they are not first-class show birds. 



A man sends for a setting of eggs ; they are badly handled 

 by the express companies and few of them hatch, and the 

 dealer is at once charged with destroying their vitality. If 

 the eg^s hatch well it is expected that the whole brood will 

 be first-class birds, and if they are not he says the breeder 

 has sent him his poorest eggs.. There are many persons of 

 means and leisure who breed poultry for pleasure rather than 

 for profit, and they are willing to sell fine birds for merely 

 nominal rates, in order to get rid of surplus stock, or for 

 the accommodation of neighbors. If any other persons in 

 the same neighborhood are obliged to pay two or three times 

 as much for the same kind of stock to regular dealers, they 

 are apt to think themselves cheated, when perhaps they have 

 only paid a fair price for their purchases. 



Heretofore there has been little uniformity in prices 

 throughout the country, one breeder selling for thirty dol- 

 lars first-class birds, for which others would ask fifty, or 

 even seventy-five dollars. This great diversity in price has 

 given rise to much hard feeling on the part of purchasers, 

 and has been the occasion of many unfounded charges of 

 unfair dealing. I have a right to value my stock highly, 

 and ask a good round price for it, provided I do not mislead 

 or deceive the buyer by any exaggerated or false representa- 

 tion. But when a breeder advertises that he has not only 

 the largest and best, but the only stock of a certain desertion 

 in the world, while a large number of others are breeding 

 just as good, he not only unduly exaggerates the importance 

 of his own stock, but wilfully misrepresents his brethren; 

 and I am by no means certain that this would not come 

 within the scope of the resolution passed by the National 

 Association at Boston. By means of the journals and shows 

 the people will become better educated, and prices will 

 become more uniform. 



A friend purchased a prize trio of chickens from one of 

 the most noted breeders, and from them, and some other 

 pullets mated with the cockerel, he raised some very fine 

 pullets, but did not get a single cockerel that he was willing 

 to breed from. I mention this not to discourage young 

 breeders, but as showing what care and judgment in mating 

 is requisite, and with all this the best of breeders sometimes 

 fail. 



Those who purchase eggs ought to understand that they 

 have some risks to run ; and after the breeder has done his 



very best, disappointments will frequently occur. Charges 

 of dishonest dealing ought to be received with caution ; but 

 if thoroughly established, the guilty parties ought to be 

 exposed. F. K. W. 



RHODE ISLAND POULTRY AND COLUM- 

 BARIAN SOCIETY. 



FIRST ANNUAL EXHIBITION. 



(Continued from page 213, No. 14.) 



2d, J. It. Goodale, Pawtucket,' $2 ; 3d, William Pierce, 

 South Scituate, highly commended. White Cochin Chickens 

 —1st, D. A. Segar, Westerly, $3 ; 2d, W. E. 0. Roberts, 

 South Scituate, $2. Black Cochin Fowls — 1st, D. A. Segar, 

 Westerly, $3 ; 2d, William Cooke, Pawtucket, $2. Black 

 Cochin Chickens— 1st, William Cooke, $3 ; 2d, Robert Plows, 

 North Providence, $2 ; 3d, D. A. Sesjar. Partridge Cochin 

 Fowls— 1st, S. 0. Chase, Killingly, "Conn, $3 ; 2d, L. R. 

 Rockwood, Worcester, Mass., $2 ; 3d, James L. Bullock. 

 Providence. Partridge Cochin Chickens — 1st, E. Capron, 

 Attleboro', Mass., $3: 2d, H. A. Rhodes, East Greenwich, 

 $2 ; 3d, J. T. Peckham, Providence. Light Brahma Fowls 

 —1st, Edward Thurber, Woonsocket, $3; 2d, J. L. Bullock, 

 Providence, §2 ; 3d, J. L. Carpenter, Attleboro'. Light 

 Brahma Chickens— 1st, Wright Buckley, Valley Palls, $3 ; 

 2d, James L. Bullock, Providence, $2 ; 3d, Edward Thur- 

 ber, Woonsocket. Dark Brahma Fowls — 1st, W. F. Inman, 

 Providence, $3; 2d, C. G. Sanford, Providence, $2; 3d, 

 Edward Bent, Providence. Dark Brahma Chickens — 1st, 

 Wright Buckley, Valley Falls, $3; 2d, J. T. Peckham, 

 Providence, $2 ; 3d, H. Allen & Son, North Attleboro'. 



CLASS III— HAMBURGS. 



Silver Spangled Hamburg Fowls — 1st, George F. Seavey, 

 Cambridgeport, Mass. ,$3; 2d, John H. Chase, Providence, 

 $2; 3d, Charles Taft, Providence. Silver Spangled Hamburg 

 Chickens — 1st, George F. Seavey, Cambridgeport, Mass., $3 ; 

 2d, S. P. Bullas, Providence, $2; 3d, Charles H. Pond, 

 Attleboro'. Silver Penciled Hamburg Fowls — 1st. Robert 

 W. Reid, Greenport, L. I , $3; 3d, James B. Peck, Provi- 

 dence. Silver Penciled Hamburg Chickens — 1st, Robert W. 

 Reid, Greenport, $3; 3d, James B. Peck, Providence. 

 Golden Spangled Hamburg Fowls — 1st, George F. Seavey, 

 Cambridgeport, $3 ; 2d, Thomas Richards, Norton, Mass., 

 $2. Golden Spangled Hamburg Chickens — 1st, George F. 

 Seavey, Cambridgeport, $3; 2d, S. B. Bulks, Providence; 

 3d, J. H. Congdon, Attleboro'. Black Hamburg Chickens — 

 1st, C. Cushing, Anthony, $3. 



CLASS IV— SPANISH. 



Black Spanish Fowls— 1st, H. W. K. Allen & Son, North 

 Attleboro', $3; 2d, Albert W. Jones, Milford, Mass , $2; 

 3d, S. B. Bullas, Providence. Black Spanish Chickens — 1st, 

 W. F. Inman, Providence, $3. Dominique Leghorn Fowls 

 — 1st, S. S. Van Buren & Co., Hartford, Conn., §3. Dom- 

 inique Leghorn Chickens — 2d, J. T. Peckham, Providence, 

 $2. Brown Leghorn Foiols — 1st, F. J. Kinney, Worcester, 

 Mass., §3. Brown Leghorn Chickens — 1st and 2d, F. J. 

 Kinney, Worcester, Mass., $3 and $2. White Leghorn 

 Fowls— 3d, William L. Tobey, Valley Falls. White Leg- 

 horn Chiekens — 1st, Joseph Dart, Oxford, Mass., $3; 2d, R. 

 R. Tates, Northboro', Mass., $2; 3d, C. L. Read, Provi- 

 dence. 



CLASS V— FRENCH. 



Crevecozur Fowls — 1st, D. A. Segar, Westerly, $3 ; 2d, 

 Joshua Vose, Manton, $2. La Fleche Chickens — 1st and 2d, 

 J. R. Goodale, Pawtucket, $3 and $2. Houdan Fowls — 1st 

 and 2d, E. C. Aldrich, Hyde Park, Mass., $3 and $2; 3d, 

 Joshua Vose, Manton. Houdan Chickens — 1st, 2d, and 3d, 

 E. C. Aldrich, Hyde Park, Mass., $3, $2, and highly com- 

 mended. 



