100 SELECTION OF STOCK 
Breed Adapted to Purpose.—The breed which best fits the 
market requirements for the product desired should be selected. 
The requirements of a market demanding a good-sized, white- 
shelled egg can best be met by keeping the Single-comb White 
Leghorn. Where a full-meated broiler is desired, such a breed as 
Wyandotte or Rhode Island Red will meet conditions to the best 
advantage. Where an extremely large bird for meat purposes is 
the aim, as for large roasters or capons, no better selection could 
be made than the Light Brahma. 
The breed, however, does not signify everything. Particular 
strains of the same breed often vary more than different breeds of 
similar general type. It is possible after the first selection of stock 
has been made to increase continuously the efficiency of the par- 
ticular strain in hand by careful mating and continuous rigid selec- 
tion. The first point for consideration should be the exact char- 
acter of product desired, and then it is a much simpler proposition 
to find a breed suited to that purpose. 
Manner of Acquiring Stock.—There are three general methods 
possible in securing foundation stock: (1) Purchasing eggs and 
hatching them; (2) buying the birds as adults or before they 
reach maturity; (3) buying day-old chicks. 
In the first plan there is always the danger of getting eggs from 
birds which do not come up to the standard set by the purchaser, 
and the danger of loss during incubation and brooding. There is 
expense and trouble in inspecting the stock from which the eggs 
came. It is never safe to buy either stock or eggs from flocks which 
the purchaser has not personally seen or in some manner become 
acquainted with. 
The most satisfactory method, where time will permit, is to 
purchase a number of pure-bred birds of the type desired, usually 
in the fall, and mate them during the late winter, getting them 
into good breeding condition by spring, so that a maximum number 
of fertile eggs will be laid during the breeding season. In this way 
a large flock can be quickly raised from parents of known quality 
and breeding, the cost being much less than where all the eggs 
must be purchased at high prices. 
The second method takes a little more time, but in reality 
the actual breeding and improvement of the flock starts sooner, 
and definite improvement from breeding will be apparent more 
quickly. 
A third plan for starting in the poultry business is quite com- 
