THE BREEDS 55 



Turkeys, ducks, and geese each comprise a class with 

 species as the basis of division. 



Purpose of Breeds. — The purpose of forming a new breed 

 of poultry should be to secure a bird that will yield a product 

 of maximum value at minimum cost. It should be a means 

 to an end. 



Most of the breeds now popular for production purposes 

 were originally brought forward to meet a real need. Many 

 of the very numerous varieties that have appeared, often 

 bearing no relation to the original members of the breed, 

 have been brought forward for the purpose of "booming," 

 to the financial advantage of their promoters. It has been 

 too much a case of attractive color and markings rather than 

 that of a more efficient food factory. 



The breeds thus tend to become an end, rather than 

 a means to an end, and the revision of a breed standard 

 is too often based on the effort to secure a more attractive 

 type than a more efiicient one. 



Standard Breeds and Varieties. — Standard breeds and varie- 

 ties are those which have been officially recognized by the 

 American Poultry Association. The qualifications of such 

 recognition in the case of a breed are that it "possess such 

 new breed characteristics as to give it a very distinct character 

 of its own."'^ In the case of a new variety, it "must truly 

 possess all the type characteristics of the breed of which 

 it is a variety."^ In order to be admitted either as a new 

 breed or a new variety, the members of the group must be 

 able to produce offspring, 50 per cent, of which are reasonably 

 true to type. Recognition is by a majority vote of the mem- 

 bers present at a regular annual meeting. 



Membership in a standard breed does not necessarily 

 imply a common or even a similar ancestry with other 

 members, though such is usually the case. It means only 

 that the individual considered approaches the ideal type 

 of the breed to a considerable degree. For instance, as 

 Brown' states, the Buff Orpington is the result of the 



1 Constitution "American Poultry Association." 



' Loc. cit. 



' Races of Domestic Poultry. 



