pretty even, with good handling; but this is all the leeway the 

 English Standard gives, and this is a full pound more leeway 

 than the American Standard gives. Hence, it is difficult, if rais- 

 ing Standard birds, to avoid getting some too small. Moreover, 

 fanciers at least, here, are beginning to discredit what they call 

 "coarse birds," and this means that the fancy Runner is likely to 

 tend toward less weights than it has averaged heretofore. If the 

 Runner is to stand above all as a layer and not make for a place 

 as a market bird, this would not matter quite so much. But the 

 Runner, strangely enough, has been making headway all the time 

 as a market bird, even against the fact that her breeders were 

 making scarcely any claims for her on this line. She has done 

 this solely through the superior quality of her flesh. (An editor 

 recently stated that the Runner flesh was the most deHcious of 

 any known fowl). 



I think the time has arrived to consider that the farm wants 

 a bird not too small, especially when we remember the tendency 

 to lessen the size, under farm conditions. To me, this seems to 

 point in just one direction: viz., a larger type of Indian Runner, 

 especially for the farm. This can soon be had, as it is easy to get 

 big Runners — those over Standard weight — by hatching them 

 early and feeding them well for frame and meat. Runner breed- 

 ers believe that if we increase size too much, we shall lose out in 

 laying quality. I believe we can overcome this through keeping 

 close to type in our Runners, even when we increase size. A 

 white Runner "pullet", weighed recently, pulled down the scales 

 at four and three-fourths pounds, much to my surprise, and she 

 was a bird selected for fancy type. With all these things in 

 mind, it seems to me that we need for the farm a 

 Runner that shall tend to weigh in the male well toward 

 six pounds. If the farm cannot keep it up there, the fan- 

 cier can. And, if the bird is adapted to his uses, the farmer 

 can well afford to pay a fancy price — I do not mean extreme, of 



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