88 POULTRI-CRAFT. ‘ 
Where competition is as active as among poultry breeders, the inexperienced 
buyer need not fear lest he pay too much for good stock; though it must be 
said that he sometimes pays a good price for poor stuff.—(Another condition 
not peculiar to the poultry business). One soon learns where to buy the stock 
he wants. Taken all in all, beginners lose more through their own blunders, 
many of them inexcusable, in selecting and ordering stock, than through the 
deceit and cupidity of dishonest breeders. All reputable breeders ship stock 
on approval. If not found as represented, it may be returned, and the money 
refunded, less express charges. Sometimes a breeder sending stock a short 
distance agrees to pay the return express in case the stock is not as repre- 
sented. In general, the buyer pays express both ways: an arrangement not 
unfair to the buyer who risks only the amount of transportation, while the 
seller risks the full value of the fowls. The safest course for a beginner is to 
buy of well known breeders. He may pay a little more for the stock, but the 
reputation of the breeder affords a measure of protection to the buyer not 
versed in the points and qualities of different stocks. A breeder who has 
made a reputation does not knowingly risk it by misrepresenting his stock, or 
in any way defrauding his customers. It often happens that amateurs offer 
equally good stock at lower prices than the established breeder. One who is 
himself a judge of the stock may well take advantage of such opportunities. 
A novice runs more risk. Often when the amateur sells good stock cheap 
it is because he does not know its value, in which case it becomes simply a 
matter of chance whether the buyer gets what he pays for, or something 
better, or worse. In buying from a breeder of good repute, a beginner will 
be safer to take the breeder’s word for the quality and value of the stock, thar 
his own judgment or the expression of opinion of those no better informed 
than himself. (Especially is this true in buying breeds in which special 
matings are required to bring out the colors in perfection). A novice often 
gets the mistaken idea that a certain feature is a sort of breed birth mark, or 
trade mark,— none genuine without it. The experienced breeder’s judgment 
of a fowl strikes the proper balance of defects and excellencies. He knows 
what is back of the birds he sells, and what kind of progeny they are likely to 
produce. 
A common error of beginners is to buy males and females of different 
breeders, in order to be sure of unrelated stock; this almost uniformly gives 
poor results. (The reasons for this will be presented in the chapter on 
not know how large a portion of the stock is worth only market prices, and has no idea 
what it costs the breeder to advertise and sell stock. When one comes to sell his own 
stock he finds that prices are adjusted by the inexorable laws of supply and demand, and 
that a breeder must be able to raise a good percentage of stock of fair quality, and sell it 
seasonably at prices well up to the average, if his year’s account is to show a balance 
on the right side of the ledger. It is worth noting here that the customary method of 
figuring profits on poultry includes in the cost only labor which has been paid for in 
cash. In most instances the statement of profit really includes the poultryman’s time, 
and is not all clear profit. 
