tremes above named, perhaps it's scarcely fair to criticise. Com- 

 parisons may be unfair. The 'made in Germany' fraternity might 

 very well benefit by a trot around alongside the 'uprights.' Still, 

 they are under way, and no doubt in a few years we may see 

 them as perfect in soda-water-bottle character as the winners 

 of to-day, when even the orthodox 'Fawn and whites' had to 

 take a back seat." 



This indicates that far the best birds seen in England to 

 date are the "Fairy Fawns," and not the 'orthodox' Fawns, nor 

 the Whites. Where the first sport into the Whites was an ex- 

 ceptionally good bird, the progeny has a chance to be better than 

 most of the Fawns. When not exceptional, the progeny is likely 

 to be common-place also. 



In a large group shown in photograph in one of the widely- 

 circulated poultry magazines a few months before this writing, 

 appear a few birds of extra-fine carriage; in it, also, appear 

 a goodly number of the kind one would rather not have intending 

 customers see. This shows that even the best breeders do not 

 have all good birds, and that to buy of any one simply because 

 he is known to have some good specimens, and not knowing any- 

 thing about the actual birds one is buying, is too likely to prove 

 a fiasco. 



A very large number of the birds here are of the "Spencer" 

 strain; sometimes called the "Carlisle" strain. Many breeders 

 using this as a foundation have built on it till they convince them- 

 selves and advertise that they have a special strain of their own. 

 This modified strain is bred very largely through the west and 

 middle west. The "White Queen Quality" strain has been dis- 

 tributed through many localities in the south, and to quite an 

 extent in California, and has been placed in the main Experi- 

 ment Station in Texas ; whence the authorities reported them- 

 selves as "very well pleased." 



Before 1913, almost no complaints of any kind reached me 



160 



