52 POULTRY SECRETS REVEALED. 



To have your pullets "show ripe" — that is, at their best when 

 exhibited— they must be hatched at the right time, and matured In the 

 right way. 



Supposing you plan to show in October. If you breed any of the 

 small, quick maturing Mediterraneans you can get your pullets — and 

 cockerels, too, for that matter — into show shape if hatched any time 

 between the middle of March and the middle of April. But the same 

 birds shown in December should not see daylight before the first of 

 May. And the pullets to be shown in January will, if properly matured, 

 do best if hatched in June. 



The American and English breeds must break their shells earlier. 



Pullets of the Rock, Red, Wyandotte or Orpington classes should 

 not be shown by novices in the fall exhibitions. Such birds must be 

 hatched, as a rule, in February ; and there are few beginners who have 

 proper facilities for keeping winter hatched chicks on the jump. 

 Better wait until March or April and get out birds for the winter 

 shows. 



Cockerels should have an earlier start than pullets. It takes 

 longer to get them right in weight and plumage. 



And here I want to say something to the beginner that will — if 

 heeded — enable him to write Success, where otherwise he would spell 

 Failure : 



NEVER FORCE YOUR BIRDS FOR THE FALL SHOWS! 



By stuffing your promising show birds; by tempting them with 

 frequent feedings; by coaxing them with tid-bits — scraps of meat, 

 sweetened bread, boiled and sugared rice, and so forth, you may put 

 the weight on late hatched birds, and may win the blu«> in October. 



But note the result: 



