46 MY POULTRY DAY BY DAY 
—it is never fat—there are few pickings upon it. A few mouthfuls 
of rather dark flesh is all one can expect. The Wyandotte and 
Rhode Islanders are both good table birds, with plenty of flesh on 
the breast and wing. The best test of their relative value is that 
if you want to sell for the table the heavy breeds I have named will 
fetch you twice as much as the Leghorn. 
Tue Best Birp 
But in spite of certain apparent disadvantages the Leghorn is 
the best bird for small intensive houses in urban or suburban 
localities. The Wyandotte has been bred to lay almost, if not 
quite, as many eggs as the Leghorn can lay, but this laying quality 
is not nearly so widely distributed about the breed in the case of the 
Wyandotte. There are few Leghorns that are not good, consistent 
layers, but there are many types of Wyandotte that lay small eggs 
and few of them. The Leghorn, on the whole, is a much more con- 
sistent layer ; or, in other words, where one strain of Wyandottes 
may lay remarkably well, half-a-dozen other strains may only lay 
moderately or badly. 
My contention is that if you get a dozen more eggs per year from 
a Leghorn it pays you better to keep her, even if you do get a 
shilling less for her carcass at the end of her career. 
Of course I say nothing against proved egg-laying strains of 
Wyandottes. Once positively assured of the right strain, one could 
hardly do better than keep two flocks—one of Leghorns and one 
of Wyandottes ; but the beginner is much more likely to get hold 
of a poor type of Wyandotte than a good one, while the chances are 
all the other way when dealing with Leghorns. For the egg-farmer 
on a large scale the Wyandotte for winter laying especially is 
almost a necessity. But in the meantime I am dealing with the 
amateur, who must be shepherded into the right path. 
No doubt a very large number of amateurs who keep fowls for 
domestic purposes do not wish to breed their own stock, not even 
for renewal purposes. In that case they do not need male birds. 
The pullets will do better without them and the neighbours will 
