l-NMYHMAL 1IK1MT 1'KO.M T1IK sTANJM'i >I\T (11 \ I'.I'VKI; NT 



named for the out' that, in the breeder's eye it most resemble*. 



Utility is a good sliwan for every breeder who h:i- Hie interest of the 

 domestic hen at heart, and it is of happy omen that, honest, intelligent 

 breeders all over our land are working along "business and beauty" 

 lines, improving their iloeks in both utility and Standard points. 



Many assume that the farmer cares nothing for tine feathers because 

 he sometimes talks that way in self defence ; but when he once decides 

 to send away for a "full-blooded rooster" he often wants all the fine 

 feathers and gilded beaks and shanks, bay eyes and five point comb that 

 would go with a very expensive bird. 



We do not. all care to breed for the show room or to take the trouble 

 to prepare birds to show, even if we have those that we think are worthy. 

 A low rating on a score card is no disgrace, but a low nest-record, if 

 the fault of the bird, should be. Individual merit should show in ex- 

 ternal appearance, in the nest and in the progeny. Upon this merit, 

 which should be in some degree discernable by a reasonably intelligent 

 buyer, the cash value of the bird should be based. 



INDIVIDUAL MERIT. 



Straight Talk by a Fancier on the Evils of Selling Poor Birds With Pedigrees 



at High Prices. 



BY A. P. WINSWW, IN THE POULTRY KEEPER. 



In breeding poultry, as in many other things, individual merit is lost 

 sight of, and inferior birds are used in the breeding pens, and sold on the 

 strength of the breeding. Blood will tell in poultry as in everything 

 else, but breeding should not be looked upon as the only object in view. 

 Line breeding is all right and if carefully followed will surely produce 

 more uniform birds, but even in line-bred stock the greater the value 

 placed upon individual merit the greater will be the success. 



I am a firm believer in good breeding, but I also believe in individual 

 merit. A few years ago Maine horse breeders were after pedigrees. Any 

 old thing that had a pedigree was bred and no attention was paid to the 

 individual merits of the horse. The result was that many people had 

 good hard cash tied up in horses that were bred for speed, but did not 

 have such qualities as go to make up a salable horse, and such horses were 

 cheap with no market for them and Maine breeders did not breed many 

 horses for a few years. Now the breeders are breeding for individual 

 merit and, while good breedingjis desired, a horse that possesses individual- 

 ity is selling for good prices. 



In poultrv the same principle holds good. In buying stock the bujers 

 can not hold a veil of winnings over a bird that has no merits of its own, 

 but is simply backed up by the breeding back of it. A buyer pays $20 for 

 a bird and when the bird arrives he finds he has paid $18 for breeding and 

 $2 for the merits of the bird. He writes the seller and gets a reply saying 

 that the bird is closely related to a line of winners! 



