POULTRY SECRETS REVEALED. 67 



Don't rush your birds off to New York, Boston or any other bic 

 city ttie first year. 



Start in at tlie fall fairs. Here is where many a fancier is born, 

 for it is at the fall fairs that thousands of people got their first ideas 

 of thoroughbred poultry. 



Groom your birds carefully. See that they have clean feet and 

 legs. Some of your best birds may be in moult. Never mind. The 

 youngsters may not be up in weight. All right. Show them just the 

 same, for many of your rivals will have the same trouble. 



Of course you want to win at the fall shows, and here is a secret 

 that will aid you: 



See that the birds shown in the fall were hatched at the right 

 time. 



Thus the adult birds exhibited, say, in September, should have 

 been hatched late in the previous year. This will throw their moult 

 back so that they may be in good feather at that time. The young 

 stock should be hatched about the first of April, and should be well 

 up in weight by September. Don't get birds out for the fall shows 

 earlier than the middle of March, for you don't want the pullets to 

 begin laying before they are shown. This fact is very Important. A 

 pullet is at her best just before maturity. Therefore if she begins 

 her "egg song," and you think she is ready to lay, discourage her 

 from so doing by changing her from one pen to another. 



The beginner is, at the outset, puzzled greatly over the question 

 of choice of breeds. Frequently he is advised to take up with some 

 one of the rarer varieties. It is urged that by so doing he will have 

 much less competition and therefore a much greater chance to win 

 the coveted blue ribbons. If the winning of ribbons was the sole object 



