30 THE BEGINNER IN POULTRY 



for most profit above cost of feed and greatest average 

 number of eggs for all in competition ; most of the best 

 prizes other than this, for some years in succession, have 

 gone to the White Leghorns. Successive contests have 

 reaffirmed results to such an extent that the manager of 

 the birds in competition has reported his conviction that 

 the best layers are within the Leghorn, Orpington, and 

 Wyandotte breeds. These results are reported from 

 the other side of the globe. A report said to be from a 

 government poultry expert credits a White Leghorn pul- 

 let with 152 eggs in six months, and a Silver Wyandotte 

 hen with 193 eggs in her second-year test. This report 

 comes from New Zealand, where women have the suf- 

 frage. Whether this makes any difference in the poultry 

 reports, tradition as yet sayeth not, but it is generally 

 conceded that hens lay better in this part of the world 

 than they do in America. 



It may be worth your while to fix firmly in mind one 

 dictum of the American Standard of Perfection, to the 

 effect that the most useful specimens of the Leghorn 

 breed are those which approach nearest in size and also 

 in shape to the requirements of the Standard. If this be 

 true, it disposes at once of your idea that because you 

 are to breed only for utility purposes, you will not need 

 the Standard. I hope, however, that the day is not far 

 distant when separate Breed Standards may be available, 

 at least for all the more important breeds. Such com- 

 pendiums could be sold cheaply, and would meet a brisk 

 demand. 



In choosing a fancy breed, remember these vital 

 points : — 



{a) A new breed gives more culls than an old one. 



