ago." The Wilsons of England are said to have sent Runners 

 there at that time, before the British breeders had done very 

 much selective work. Mrs. Pickering has said publicly that she 

 herself "sent eggs and the breed all over the world," including 

 the European countries where it is said that they are found. But 

 none of these groups is admitted by Mr. Walton to be of the gen- 

 uine best type. 



The fact that one of his bitterest rivals among Runner 

 breeders recently sent to Mr. Walton to buy all he could spare of 

 one group of the Walton "new native blood" Runners, speaks 

 more loudly for Mr. Walton's stock than any words could do. 



THE INDIAN RUNNER CLUBS IN AMERICA. 



Up to 1913, all efforts to start a successful club among Run- 

 ner breeders failed. Most of these seemed to die before they 

 were born, as one might say. Mr. W. J. Patton told me, early 

 in 1913, that he knew of "at least six attempts to start Runner 

 Clubs" before that time, and all failures. "Cold feet", lack of 

 ambition, etc., were offered as reasons for these failures. 



All at once, however, a club for the newer White Runners, 

 one for the American Standard birds and two for the English 

 type sprang up, and have kept Runners pretty thoroughly to the 

 fore. There is also the Waterfowl Club which is wooing Runner 

 ■breeders, and which believes that all these specialty Clubs should 

 unite under its own management. A so-called International 

 Club for water fowls is also holding out inducements. Many of 

 the specialty breeders believe that an "omnibus" club is rather 

 certain to be dominated by the largest group of breeders in it, 

 chiefly for their own interest. These prefer the specialty Clubs, 

 for one breed or variety only. The American Poultry Associa- 

 tion complains that water-fowl breeders join it in very small 

 numbers, and therefore it feels no intense interest in their mat- 

 ters, and argues that they have little right to expect its aid 



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