fanciest of the fancy, and the charmingest of the charming. In 

 the last, however, the lovely white variety is a lap or two ahead 

 of its blood- rival, the sprightly fawn and white. Yet those who 

 think "trimmings" add to the beauty of all things, may easily 

 convince themselves that the fawns with their liberal trimmings 

 of white, are the lovelier. 



One breeder says of the whites: "They seem to fill the 

 long-felt want for a fowl that is easy to rear, one that grows 

 rapidly and matures at an early age, one that produces eggs both 

 summer and winter, and a fowl that can live on almost any kind 

 of food. Such a one we have in the White Runner duck." She 

 continues, "I can conscientiously recommend this new variety," 

 and says that those who raise it will be in the happy condition 

 of never waiting for either eggs, or spending money in the purse. 



In some quarters, there has been much doubt as to the kind 

 of bird the new, White Runner might be. Suspicion seemed 

 to forecast that it was likely to have outside blood. It is, as I 

 have shown, no doubt possible that this may be true of some 

 strains — if such they can be called. A sample of this feeling 

 reached me in July of 1911, from one who had seen a cut of 

 Somebody's "White Runners," so-called. He wrote: 



"I don't think I care for any White Runners; the head is 

 too large, the neck too thick, the body too short, the breast 

 prominent, and carriage bad; in fact, it lacks about every char- 

 acteristic we look for in a Runner. It would seem that there 

 is now, and will be almost as much danger of breeders using 

 foreign blood to get white ducks as there has been to get solid 

 light fawn and white ducks." 



This does not look like a man who would invest early in 

 White Runners. Yet, having found a breeder whose word he 

 was willing to trust, he bought a start in White Runners in the 

 following September. His first letter, after their receipt, was 

 of this tenor: "I am very much pleased with the White Run- 



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