Selection of Stock. 33 



as they are not so high in standard merit as his old ones, 

 he sells them, and possibly the old ones, too. He sells 

 at a sacrifice, and pnrchases again birds of great merit 

 and high price, only to have his unsatisfactory ex- 

 periences repeated. This goes on for another year or 

 two; the young fancier becomes disheartened and dis- 

 gusted, thinks he has been deceived, and throws up 

 the Fancy in despair. 



THE OTHER SIDE. 



Now it must be evident to anj-one who thinks, that 

 two verjr high-class birds being mated, their good pro- 

 perties must be in the blood of the progeny, even if they 

 do not show outwardly. Therefore, the breeder's task 

 is to bring them out. This can best be done b^^ pairing 

 the best young hen back to her father, the best young 

 cock back to his mother, or pairing two of the young 

 together. It is a hundred pounds to a penny that such 

 mating will bring the desired success, and if followed 

 will prove both profitable and pleasurable, whereas the 

 constant introduction of fresh blood can end in nothing 

 but disaster and disappointment. It stands to reason 

 that such close pairing must not be persisted in, or 

 disaster will quickly follow. The old hand may breed 

 closer than the novice, because he has experience to 

 guide him. Fuller information on this point will be 

 found in the chapter on " Establishing a Strain," and 

 also in my book, " In-Breeding." 



VALUE OF PEDIGREE. 



The great value of securing one's original stock 

 from one stud is that one is not so likely to breed a lot 

 of wasters as when the birds are gathered together 

 from all parts of the compass. Well bred second-rate 

 birds — that is, birds just removed from the category 

 of prize winners, will, if related, breed far better stock 

 than a lot of high-priced winners of firsts and specials 

 which are unrelated. It is a hundred to one against 

 the latter producing anything but a lot of wastrels, 

 because having been bred in different lofts they have 

 not been bred upon the same lines. Further, the 

 admixture of strange blood often gives rise to sports. 

 On the other hand, the birds of one strain only once 



