60 POULTRY PRODUCTION 



in the South Shore soft roaster district of the extreme East, 

 there are no chickens that are bred primarily for meat pro- 

 duction. The trend, of production following the economic 

 demand is toward eggs. The so-called meat breeds that lay 

 comparatively few eggs, are surely and rather rapidly passing 

 off the platform of economic importance. Good egg produc- 

 tion (or its absence) has in the last analysis been the control- 

 ling factor in the permanence or dwindling of the popularity 

 in which the various breeds have been held. Meat is becom- 

 ing more and more a by-product of egg-production. It is 

 an important by-product of the American breeds, and a 

 relatively unimportant one of the Mediterranean varieties. 



With turkeys, ducks, and geese the reverse is true, with 

 the exception of the Runner duck. 



For practical purposes ducks may be divided into three 

 groups, namely, (1) the meat group, which includes the 

 Pekin, Aylesbiu-y, Muscovy, Rouen, Cayuga, Buff, and 

 Swedish; (2) the egg group, which includes the Runner 

 only, and (3) the ornamental group, which is comprised of 

 the Call, Crested White and Black East India. The IMan- 

 darin and JVood ducks are beautiful birds which could well 

 be included in the Standard. 



The Asiatic Class. — ^The classes of fowls that have played 

 the most important part in building up the present valued 

 breeds commercially are the Asiatics and Mediterraneans. 



Of the Asiatics, the three recognized breeds are the Brahma, 

 Cochin, and Langshan. All three were brought to this 

 country by direct importation from China, coming from 

 near the Brahmapootra River, from the city of Shanghai 

 and from the district of Langshan respectively. 



The forerunners of the present Brahmas were first imported 

 in 1846. They were nearly if not fully as large as the modern 

 Brahmas, were less heavily feathered and very much better 

 layers. What was until recently the highest authentic egg 

 record was made by a Light Brahma pullet in 1872, when a 

 bird owned by I. K. Felch, of Natick, Mass., laid 313 eggs in 

 330 days. 



