BREED TYPE 57 



six points scores 94. The highest scoring specimen wins 1st, the 

 second highest scoring bird, 2d, and so on. 



The comparative method of judging recjuires that the judge make 

 a mental comparison of the specimens on exhibition, and prizes are 

 then awarded by the judge according to the apparent rank of the 

 birds. This system is the more rapid, and also the more satisfactory 

 when large classes of birds of superior and nearly equal quality are 

 shown. In the actual practice of applying the score card, it is e.xceed- 

 ingl}' difficult to meet all the line gradations of stature, type, feather 

 and color with that mathematical accuracy which good score card 

 judging requires, and judgment of the eye commonly proves to be the 

 better measure. 



Relation of size to type. The quality presented by a bird is rela- 

 tive. It is better or worse. Even weight which might appear to be 

 positiAe, because it can be determined by the scales, is, after all, 

 relative, because weight should lie proportionate to the size of the 

 bird, and a bird that meets the Standard weight requirement because 

 it is fat, 3'et does not possess sufficient stature, fails in its general 

 set-up to meet the true Standard of typical shape. Size is an impor- 

 tant factor in the American breeds. Birds that are more than two 

 pounds under Standard weight are disqualified in showrooms where 

 the Standard of Perfection is enforced. Both weight and size are 

 printed on the official score cards and although a bird may be up to 

 Standard weight, it may still be deficient in size. 



In judging size, the bird should have a reasonably large frame and 

 be reasonably well fleshed. An especially fat specimen is never prime 

 for breeding purposes. Birds and breeds that fat uncommonly easily 

 are usually weak sexually. The Dorking breeders, whose fowls fur- 

 nished the prime table poultry of England half a century ago, helped 

 to spoil their own breeding stock, by fleshing their best specimens 

 so that wdien a judge laid his hand on the breast it was plump and 

 full. Fat males are inclined to give low fertility and over-fat females 

 often lay soft-shelled or misshapen eggs. Cornish breeders are today 

 experiencing the ill effects of over-conditioned birds. 



Where heavy egg yield is the sole object in breeding, size is 

 easily lost, for the best layers are frequently the smaller specimens 

 W'ithin the breed. For this reason it is difficult to hold size in highly 

 specialized egg strains of the Ainerican breeds. 



Every poultryman can recall instances of pullets starting to lay 

 early in life before they had attained the proportions and weight 

 that are typical of the breed and they never did grow to sufficient 

 size. 



O. F. Mittendorff of Illinois, who has specialized for some years 

 in breeding Barred Plymouth Rocks for eggs, has an eye for size 

 that he may have typical birds to comprise his flock, and he meets 

 the issue by giving preference to a pullet that devotes the first 200 

 days to growth and development of body. This means that the 



