132 Profitable Poultry Keeping. 



it. The way to proceed is, to select twelve to fifteen clean- 

 legged, close-bodied liens, known to be good layers, and not 

 more than two years old, and buy a couple of Minorca, Houdan, 

 or Andalusian cockerels, if layers only are wanted, and Lang- 

 shan or Game, if both layers and table birds are desired. 

 Mate these up with the hens spoken of, and the progeny will 

 be vastly superior to the present stock, which can be partially, 

 or entirely, cleared out in the autumn. The cockerels just 

 named should be got rid of also, and the following spring a 

 similiar number of the pullets bred should be selected, and a 

 couple of fresh cockerels obtained, of the same breed as before, 

 which will have to be repeated every year. By this means 

 the fowls will gradually improve, and in a very few years the 

 character of the yard will be entirely altered. Or, another 

 plan, is to buy five cocks for every fifty hens, and let all run 

 together, killing off the old hens in the autumn, and buying 

 new cocks every spring. Both these methods are, however, 

 slow, and the one we first named, will be found cheapest and 

 best in the long run. 



