THE ART OF THE FANCY. 17 



through its arrival being delayed. Perhaps 

 next year the unlikeliest pair in your loft will 

 throw the peerless beauty you are in quest 

 of. George Ure, the old and honoured Fancier, 

 some of whose Pouters sold by auction last 

 spring at over £^0 a-piece, tells us how he 

 climbed the ladder of fame. He says — 



"I have striven for over twenty years and 

 more to attain a property before I succeeded. 

 You must make up your mind to grope in the 

 dark for many years, getting a bird here and 

 there that may look pretty well, but of which 

 you know nothing, and therefore cannot tell the 

 good or bad points most prominent in the strain. 

 Perhaps you may by and by breed a good-look- 

 ing bird or two — it would be strange if you did 

 not— and they may gain a prize under a good 

 judge. Do not, however, be in too great haste 

 to call attention to your success by tooting on 

 your own trumpet, for if the birds are bred in 

 the haphazard style that I have referred to, you 

 are sure to experience a backsliding — an un- 

 pleasant discovery — teaching that you have not 

 yet reached the desired stage when 'like pro- 

 duces like' so frequently as to merit any claim 

 to the possession of an established strain." 



Learn the art of keeping a good bird when 



