BREEDS OF CHICKENS 
that are certainly superior for the various commercial pur- 
poses to the unselected fowls of the old-fashioned farm-yard. 
The mongrel chicken is a production of chance. Its ances- 
try represents everything available in the barn-yard of the 
neighborhood, and its offspring will be equally varied. In the 
pure breeds there has been a rigid selection practiced that 
gives uniform appearance. The size and shape requirements 
of the standard, although not based on the market demands, 
come much nearer producing an ideal carcass than does 
chance breeding. Ability to mature for the fall shows is a 
decidedly practical quality that the fancier breeds into his 
chickens. Moreover, poultry-breeders, while still keeping 
standard points in mind, have also made improvements in the 
lay and meat-producing qualities of their chickens. Consid- 
ering these facts it is an erroneous idea to think that mongrel 
chickens offer any advantage over pure bred stock. 
In the broader sense we may regard as pure-bred those 
animals that reproduce their shape, color, habits, or other dis- 
tinctive qualities with uniformity. In order that we may get 
offsprings like the parent and like each other we must have 
animals whose ancestors for many generations back have been 
of one type. The more generations of such uniformity, the 
more certain it will be that the young will possess similar 
quality. F 
One strain of chickens may be selected for uniform color 
of feathers, another for a certain size and shape, another for 
laying large eggs of a certain color, and yet another strain 
for being producers of many eggs. Each of these strains 
might be well-bred in these particular traits, but would be 
mongrels when the other considerations were taken into 
account. 
This explains to us why the family or strains is frequently 
more important than the breed. In fact, the whole series of 
breed classification is arbitrary. This is especially true of 
the American or mixed breeds. Humorously turned fanciers 
at the poultry show frequently have much sport trying to get 
other fanciers to tell White or Buff Rocks from Wyandottes, 
when the heads are hidden. From the dressed carcasses with 
feet and head removed, the finest set of poultry judges in the 
world would be hopelessly lost in a collection of Rocks, Wyan- 
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