204 MY WJV EXPERIENCE. 



I buy eggs for setting every year, and liave 

 had varied fortune; I do not, however, take for 

 gi-anted, that the sender is to blame — when I 

 am unlucky. Even wild birds' eggs do not hatch 

 well in some seasons, and every poultry fancier 

 knows that high-bred prize stock is seldom pro- 

 lific — the life is too artificial. 



If even two birds are hatched from a setting 

 at L.l, Is., these alone are worth the money; 

 honest dealers (and such names as Watts, 

 Holmesdale, Fowler, Pitz-William, &c., are ma- 

 terial guarantees that they are to be met with) 

 find that price too low for eggs from really prize 

 stock, and put an almost prohibitory value on 

 them, I myself among the nimiber. 



It is nonsense to talk of eggs having been 

 doctored ; Quid nuncs may swallow such tales, but 

 not the practical fancier or breeder. Our names 

 are too valuable to us in the poultry world, and 

 our honour is quite as unimpeachable as that of 

 thieves! ! 



When my eggs have hatched badly, I have in 

 some cases given a fresh supply, ungrudgingly, 

 and, I may say, have also received it. 



