88 



SUCCESS WITH POULTRI 



birds are used for breeding. There is a flock of fowls on a 

 farm near me, in which there has not been a drop of new 

 blood for fifty-eight years, and they look as much. alike as 

 peas. There has never been a diseased bird in this flock, 

 and they are simply wonderful as layers, both in winter an^ 

 Bummer. If I could not buy eggs in which I had confidence 

 I should buy where I had confidence in both the ' breeder 

 and' his stock, a pair each of pullet mating and cockerel 

 mating, on which to found my strain, and I should buy as 

 fine pairs as I could possibly afford. I should much rather 

 pay $100 for two pairs that were worth the money than 

 to get for the same money twenty birds that were only 

 worth $100. I sometimes think that we double-mating ad- 

 vocates make a mistake in advocating this method, , as the 

 single mating breeders make excellent customers. I say 

 nothing Of mating, as I take it for granted that a breeder 

 of ten to twenty years' experience knows what to do with 

 the "good ones" when he has them. 



"W. B. GIBSON, Pennsylvania. 



Try Two or Three Different liines of Blood. 



If I had no. fowls and desired to start again in the breed- 

 ing of Barred Plymouth Eocks I should buy a few breeding 

 pens of different strains and eggs of the breeders that I 

 thought had the best. By getting eggs and stock from two 

 or three different lines of breeding I would be surer of get- 

 ting a good start, for if the eggs or stock from one did not. 

 prove as expected, those from another probably would. My 

 idea would be to spend considerable in stock and eggs at the 

 start, for I would of course desire to have a good stock on 

 "hand for the next year's breeding. 



I speak of buying eggs. You will understand by this 

 that I mean in case the proposed beginning were" in the 

 spring; if in the fall I should buy stock and then supplement 

 this by oraering eggs in the spring. Regarding mating the 

 progeny, I would use the judgment I have acquired by my 

 long experience, in some cases mating birds of the same line 

 of breeding, in other cases using some other blood, or per- 

 haps a direct cross. 



I would order stock or breeding pens mated for cockerels 

 and others for pullets and others for general mating. I 

 should not chance too much on one type until well started. 

 After a year or two I would get the different lines and 

 strains of birds well sorted out and sifted down, keeping 

 only what would dd me good, discarding all the rest. 



E. B. THOMPSON, New York. 



Buy from a Specialist. 



I should select one or two of the leading varieties of 

 fowls, such as would best please my fancy. Then 'I should 

 look around for a re.^able breeder who made a specialty of 

 such breeds, one in whom I could place confidence. Espec- 

 ially would I want to get my start from one who had a 

 large experience in the breeding of such fowls, as I consider 

 culls from an experienced breeder better than the best uirds 

 from the yards of one who changes breeds each year, buying 

 his stock from anywhere and breeding in a chance way. 



Nor would I ever jk of buying from a man who has 

 from ten to sixty varieties of fowls, and if the breeder from 

 whom I should decide to purchase would be willing to sell 

 me eggs from his best matings then I should start with eggs, 

 but not with one or two sittings. Too many persons look 

 for more than they should expect from a sitting or two of 

 eggs. The fancier who will treat his customers right when 

 he promises to sell from his best yards and does what he 



promises, gives his customers a chance to get a good start 

 in a variety at a comparatively small cost. 



We have practiced this within the past two years, hav- 

 ing purchased over $100 worth of Buff Rock eggs from one 

 'breeder. We select the best birds each year for our breed- 

 ing yards, and breed up to standard points and our own 

 ideas,, thus establishing a strain of our own. 



We would also say to those who start in the- fancy, live 

 up to the "G-olden Rule," treat your customers right, do an 

 honorable and square business, and your old customers will 

 come back and new ones will be added from day to day. 

 Never make any misstatements in your advertisements, but 

 stick to facts, and you will succeed. 



AUG. D. ARNOLD, Pennsylvania. 



Advantages of Buying Stock— Quality Not Quantity. 



If I were not in and wanted to establish myself in the 

 standard-bred poultry business, knowing all that I know 

 know from so- many years of personal experience, I should 

 decidedly start with stock of the very best of its variety 

 obtainable from some old established strain. Many persons 

 consider buying eggs by far the cheapest method to get a 

 start. It is cheap in one sense, and on the other hand a 

 '.'dear way," if experience and years of one's life are of 

 value. With stock you have something at once to study 

 and become familiar with — shape, color, and other standard 

 requirements, gaining knowledge that will guide in after 

 years to quickly distinguish the value of sectional qualities 

 ill a bird. In the progeny raised from eggs bought generally 

 appear so few good specimens that the next year really you 

 have only an indifferent lot to select from for the coming 

 year's matings and have no intelligent knowledge of how 

 they should be mated for best result. To the progeny raised 

 from these you must necessarily look for the stock on which 

 your reputation is to be gained as a breeder. 



Now, you are in the second year, as you may say — 

 stranded, as you do not know how to mate to produce the 

 best specimens of the breed you have in your yards to reach 

 the position in view in the poultry world. This is the point 

 so many reach and give up discouraged, and here it is that 

 the breeder who bought A' No.- 1 Stock is in the lead. He 

 is years in advance in knowledge and is already pretty well 

 established. Paying liberal prices for the best gives tone 

 to the breeder and his stock, and, too, he is advertised from 

 friend to stranger. Such breeders are consequently soon 

 known, and thus come in touch with the best breeders in 

 the country. Starting right establishes your reputation. Al- 

 ways bear in mind quality; quantity is ruinous without qual- 

 ity to any breeder. J. D. WILSON, New York. 



Buy Bggs or Birds from Standard Matings. 



If I were out of the poultry business, with the knowl- 

 edge I have gained in the past sixteen years, and wished to 

 again start, I believe I should either Tjuy eggs or buy a 

 breeding pen of some Breeder who does not advise special 

 matings. I am sick and tired of the so-called special, double 

 or whatever you may term them, matings. Give me stand- 

 ard ma,tings every time, or as near to it as you can get each 

 year. The first eight or ten years of my experience as a 

 breeder I bought eggs of fanciers who advertised eggs from 

 prize matings at $10 per forty. The fowls that produced 

 these eggs were bred by special matings and looked well 

 enough, but what did I get! A fine lot of market chickens 

 — culls. This somewhat discouraged me. Next season I 

 bought a pen of birds. The|y looked nice when they ar- 

 rived and I anticipated fine results, but when fall arrived 



