Ill 



CHOOSING AMONG THE BREEDS 



Breed and Class — Study Classes First — Making and 

 Molding Breeds — The Important Classes — Which 

 Standpoint ? — Outstanding Breeds — The Champion 

 Laying Breed — Size of Eggs 



Strictly speaking, shape is the determining feature 

 of a breed. But among poultrymen, the word " breed " 

 is so often carelessly applied to varieties, that it is nec- 

 essary to know this habit of theirs in order to make sure 

 of understanding them always. The Standard of Per- 

 fection is always changing, partly because new varieties 

 or new breeds are admitted from time to time, and partly 

 because it is revised once in five years. For this reason, 

 it is scarcely wise, in a book like the present one, whose 

 life may cover many years, to state definitely the special 

 requirements of the Standard, or to refer to special con- 

 tents except in a general way. Thus, I may say that 

 the Standard of Perfection, at the time of this writing, 

 contains about 140 variety descriptions. Perhaps the 

 strict meaning of the word " breed " would seem different 

 to different people. Some would say that there are 

 something above fifty real breeds; others would contend 

 that there are more. 



The term " Class," as applied to group units of similar 

 kind, is rather an arbitrary word. But its key point is 

 that the units which compose it, of whatever name they 

 may be, have common characteristics. It would be a 

 puzzle of puzzles, indeed, for a Beginner to try to select 



