146 POULTR?Y-CRAFT. 
demonstration of oe law of inheritance to account for a/7 the phenomena of 
likeness and unlikeness in fowls of the same blood and breeding should show 
him that he can have virtually complete control of his stock, if only he will 
breed in conformity to principles proved by the law of inheritance, rejecting 
such so-called principles‘as will not stand the test. The right interpretation 
of the facts of inheritance should show him that the uncertainty of results in 
breeding, which he so often deplores, is not due to a conflict of mysterious 
forces, but to his own avoidable’ mistakes. The law of inheritance shows that 
by continued selection of the specimens most alike, the number and extent of 
possible differences in the offspring are constantly reduced. There is nothing 
new in this teaching. Successful breeders have followed it for years. But 
that there is one law, avd only one, which applies to a7 the phenomena of 
reproduction, is the thing which, more than all others, the great mass of those 
who are trying to breed poultry need to know. When once they get firm hold 
of that fact, and form the habit of testing their methods by it, they will discard 
some fallacies that now stand in the way of better general progress in the 
improvement of domestic poultry. 
196. Selection.— Inheritance perpetuates undesirable, as well as desir- 
able, qualities. Its variations are as apt to be toward deterioration as toward 
improvement. Among animals in a state of nature, xatural selection, the 
‘‘ survival of the fittest,” constantly operates to maintain the old features, and 
preserve and establish the new ones most beneficial to the race. In the 
breeding of domestic animals natural selection necessarily plays a part, but 
the chief factor is artzfictal selection, the ‘separation of the choicest,” in 
accordance with the interests or whims of the breeder. As an artificial 
standard seeks to secure exact similarity in many details, or, very superior 
excellence in one or more qualities, it is only by the most rigid selection of 
the individuals allowed to propagate their kind that a high stage of improve- 
ment can be reached and maintained. Rigid, severe selection is the key to 
success in poultry breeding. If a breeder desires uniformity in his stock, the 
breeding birds must be as nearly alike as can be had, and bred from /zke birds 
for many generations. If he wishes to secure high excellence in a particular 
quality, he must breed consecutively from the individuals in which that quality 
is best developed — wzthout detriment to other qualities.* 
* Note.— While a breeder should always select ¢he dest, he must expect that if a dest 
bird is so much better than the type in any particular that it is markedly wxlrke the type, 
its progeny will not (unless it happens to be strongly prepotent with regard to the feature 
which constitutes its excellence) show an equal excellence. On the contrary, it is in 
accordance with the law that only a small proportion should do so, and that an equal 
number should be as much worse than the poorest progeny of the mediocre stock as the 
best are better than their best. So that, on the whole, the immediate progeny of 
phenomenally good birds may be disappointing. But by breeding from fhe best again 
and again, the marked advance made in any feature by an individual can be established 
as a race feature,— provided always that it can exist without detriment to other qualities. 
