F 



481 

 F363 

 BIRD 



AND 



POULTRY EXCHANGE. 



Vol. I. 



PHILADELPHIA, APRIL 30, 1874. 



No. 18. 



(For Fanciers' Journal.) 



THE AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION, 



AND THEIR (NEW) "STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE." 

 To THE READERS OF THE POULTRY JOURNALS : 



Noticing two or three articles lately appearing in the dif- 

 erent poultry periodicals which appear to call for a reply 

 from the Executive Committee of the Association, and, 

 after consulting what few of the members I could readily 

 reach, I. would saj' that the Association deem it for their best 

 interest that a free and full discussion should be had of their 

 doings ; therefore, the Association does hereby request that at 

 an early date, any fancier, breeder, or other person, make 

 known to us any and all omissions or errors that may have 

 been made in this our first edition, to the end that such 

 omissions or errors be corrected before printing the second 

 edition. By so doing, they will confer a favor on the Asso- 

 ciation. Address all communications to 



Edmund S. Ralph, 



Sec'y American Poultry Association. 

 Buffalo, N. Y., April, 1874. 



(Poultry papers please copy.) 



(For Fanciers' Journal.) 



THE STANDARD OF THE "AMERICAN 

 POULTRY SOCIETY." 



Friend Wade : Since I forwarded to the Fanciers' Journal 

 my first suggestions upon the subject of the doings of the 

 late Buffalo convention, and the issuing of the new Ameri- 

 can (so-called) Standard of Excellence, I have met with 

 numerous articles of sharp criticism, from all quarters, in 

 the poultry journals, and am in receipt of sundry letters 

 from breeders and fanciers in a dozen different states, all 

 pointing in the same adverse direction, as to the merits, the 

 propriety, the accuracy, the justice, or the usefulness of the 

 pamphlet put forth by this " National " Association. 



'As one of the oldest breeders and importers of poultry in 

 America, and one who has felt a deep interest in the welfare 

 and improvement of poultry in this country so many years, 

 I claim the right to present my opinion on this subject, with 

 the rest of American fanciers; and as I have no " axo to 

 grind " — having long ago ceased to be a competitor at fowl 

 exhibitions, with my stock — I think my views will, at this 

 time, be readily accepted ; at least as being devoid of personal 

 interestedness t in this controversy. 



That this proposed new standard is very defective, erro- 

 neous in principle, lamentably incomplete, and absolutely 

 useless to the general interests of our fraternity, as well as 

 offensive in its presumptuous authority and dictum, every 

 one, who has examined it fairly, agrees. I therefore ask 

 space in your columns for the following suggestions, in be- 

 half of the many breeders who are sorely disappointed with 

 the results of the doings of the late National Assaciatioji .; 

 and especially having reference to their proposal of 



standard" for adoption by the State and County Poultry 

 Societies of America, at large. 



This nominal "Standard of the American Poultry Asso- 

 ciation," in the first place, has been hurried out without due 

 consideration and consultation ; and the committee upon 

 points of quality were not given due time to properly ex- 

 amine into the details of the important duty assigned them, 

 before they were required to submit their several reports. 



Three or four days' stay at Buffalo was entirely insuffi- 

 cient for the proper accomplishment of this task, inasmuch 

 as there were thousands of American fanciers directly in- 

 terested in this matter who were not there ; of which num- 

 ber there were hundreds of prominent breeders who might 

 and ought to have been communicated with, for advice and 

 counsel in the premises, prior to final decision. 



The convention itself was not a "meeting of the poultry 

 men of America," as it seemed to have been intended. The 

 gentlemen who got up this standard did not fully represent 

 even the poultry societies of the country. And, though so 

 far as they went, in numbers, they were a respectable body, 

 and did what they deemed to be about right, no doubt; yet 

 there was not afforded opportunity for that full, fair, open 

 expression of opinion on this important subject, by the mass 

 of our fraternity, or their immediate representatives, that 

 alone can give permanent value to desired conclusions. And 

 the proof of this assertion is found in this last precious, poor 

 formula for an "American Standard." 



The consequence of this lack of foresight, remissness, poor 

 judgment, indecent haste— or whatever it may be — is, that 

 an imperfect, ridiculously faulty, incomplete, and useless 

 pamphlet (at an unreasonable cost) is promulgated, by as- 

 sumed authority, based upon the false principle of controlling 

 the judgment of our exhibition arbiters; which disgusts 

 many, and disappoints everybody who is interested in the 

 future real weal of both societies and individual competitive 

 breeders. 



That there are a. few men among the thousands of fanciers 

 in this country who are content with this work, of course, 

 is evident. But that this new " standard " is any improve- 

 ment upon former discarded ones, that the large majority of 

 poultry men are not satisfied with it, and that minor societies, 

 generally, in the United States will neither accept it as law, 

 or adopt it as a rule to govern them, in the future, is as clear 

 to my vision as is the fact, that all prior "standards " simi- 

 larly got up and in alike manner foisted upon us, have been 

 ignored and thrown overboard, in the past. 



I tell you, Mr. Editor, that in this free country it is too 

 late in the day to make such a thing, as this nominal Stand- 

 ard of Excellence is, go down with American fanciers. 

 There are too many of us, outside of all cliques or coteries, 

 who have studied and experimented ; who have written and 

 read ; who have become experienced in this calling, and have 

 spjen-t)-tiiia»,»j»i»»ey, and brains in helping the cause thus far 

 towards perfection in breeding poultry, to acquiesce 



JAN 2 4 2001 ) 



