October, 1913 



233 



Krcnoos likvly to l>o loss rcitl be- 

 luse they, are unseen. I,et us 

 ^. t rid of the idea that a ehick is 

 I lie outcome iiierelv of the union 

 of its parents and "that it is com- 

 jioscd of a casual n^.ixture of the 

 \aryin<j elements and j)roportions 

 1 both. If this wore so we inij;-ht 

 \peot the conil) instead of beino- 

 ilclinite in numbers and tn type, 

 would vary in all conceivable 

 shal^es and patterns. ilodern 

 biolojjy sa}-s the chick is not, in 

 other than a very limited sense, 

 the child of its parents. It is 

 the gametic constitution which 

 came to the parents from dead 

 and gone ancestors and will go on 

 to future generations, an endless 

 chain splitting up and reconstruct- 

 ing, always the same yet ever 

 changing, whieh counts. However, 

 that's rather awav from the point. 



The unit characters which con- 

 trol the comb are clear and dis- 

 tinct, for instance, they are quite 

 separate from colour and there is 

 no merging. Nature has a certain 

 number of patterns of comb. 

 She makes varying combinations 

 hi'it always the same, and what 

 she does once she does always 

 and in the same proportion. A 

 comb is single of it's not, it is 

 case of giving the lot or none 

 at all. If the unit charac- 

 ters which govern comb do this 

 whv not the unit characters which 

 govern egg production. Is there 

 anv reason why they shorild not 

 >act in preciselv the saine manner. 

 Is there not, on the contrary, very 

 good reason for thinking on the 

 e\'idenc'e of our yards and com- 

 petitions that there has been some- 

 thing of this sort gomg on. L<ook 

 hack at the explanation of the; im- 

 pure walnut and read the same 

 formiMla in other words as applied 

 to egg production. Average egg 

 production is dominant to no egg 

 production. High egg production 

 is dominant to no egg production. 

 Maximum egg production (250 a 

 year) is the form taken by th.e 

 hen containing both the domin- 

 ants and low egg production ap- 

 pears when the dominant of 

 neither is present. Does it sound 



any less far-fetched when applied 

 to tomb production which wc 

 know to be a fact than to egg 

 production as postulated by the 

 " Poarl " theory we referred, to 

 last month. 



(To be Continued). 



♦ 



IZPoultry Papers for 'Is. 



Dual-Purpose. 



All over the world the 'rivalry 

 Ijctweeu the si>ecial as against the 

 general-purpose breeds goes on 

 li'cef and milk, wool and mutton, 

 straw or grain, quantity and quali- 

 ty, etc. In poultry it is just the 

 same, eggs ot meat or both. It 

 is of cojurse admitted that you get 

 the maximum result with a 

 specialised breed for a given pur- 

 X:>ose, but it is held by many that 

 ■s ou get the greatest money return 

 from breeds which, though not the 

 highest in any one quality, are 

 good in two. There is, however, 

 no absolute best, it is a question 

 of men and markets. 



The real question that the re- 

 cently-organized General Purpose 

 Poultry Club is up against is the 

 latter. Tbe men are all right, 

 they know the merits of their 

 breeds, what they have to do is 

 to drive them home to the public. 

 In the last resort the deciding fac- 

 tor is the consumer. You can 

 write, talk, and illustrate, but un- 

 less you have the goods, and they 

 are the sort the public wants, you 

 don't get very far. The meeting 

 the other night was splendidly at- 

 tended. It showed the interest 

 which is being taken in the sub- 

 ject, but it somehow, or to some 

 extent, missed the mark or fell 

 short of it. We know that it is 

 more easy to criticise than to con- 

 struct , and in writing the above 

 we do so in no vmfriendly spirit. 

 The job before those interested in 

 any case is difficult, but it will 

 be m-ade lighter if all do what they 

 can to help. To push down the 

 public throat even a good thing 

 which a portion of the said public 

 does not know it wants, and the 



IN READINESS F©R a HOT SUMMER! 



The New Parafield Poultry Station has been covered with 

 "KINGS COMPO",— The Ideal Roof Cooling Preparation. A 

 48 lb tin will cover 720 sq. feet with two coats— Price 7/6. Obtain- 

 able from all hard ware stores or the sole agenti. 



KING «fe OO., 



WAYMOUTH STREET. 

 Count»y Agents want»d, write today for full Pariiculara. 



altry & 1< aocier*' Papc 

 in the Commonwealth. It is publiihed 

 twice a month and coitt 5i. a year, post 

 free. But to prove its ralue, we (hall aeud 

 you 12 back numbers— a liberal poultry 

 •duoalion— poit free, for It. Money back 

 if you are not latisfied. Write to-day before 

 they hare all gene. 



The Australian Hen 



AND FANCIERS' FRIEND, 

 756 GEORGE ST., SYDNEY, N.8.W. 



remainder knows it does not, is a 

 pretty big contract. Yet this is 

 practically what has to be done. 

 A step in the right direction will 

 be to frankly recognise just what 

 the public do want and cater for 

 it. In all business propositions it 

 is not what you think the buyer 

 ought to want but what he really 

 does want or he thinks he wants, 

 which counts, and the quicker you 

 tumble to this and suit vour wares 

 to his wishes the better. 



For all practical purposes a fowl 

 consists of four qualities, eggs, 

 meat, maternity, and appearance. 

 They have, however, very different 

 values. One man in a hundred 

 wants appearance as the leading 

 line, most people will chance the 

 question of broodiness ; compara- 

 tively few trouble about meat but 

 practically every person wants 

 eggs and wants them often. How 

 do the club propose to meet the 

 position. They have nothing to ex- 

 pect from the man who wants only 

 appearance, nothing from the few 

 people who grow prime table poul- 

 try for home use, and nothing 

 from the man who banks on a 

 straight flush in eggs. Whom have 

 they left ? Well, a very big, and 

 important crowd, but one who has 

 very decided notions as to what 

 he wants. He is found in aU the 

 suburbs, in the country towns, and 

 on 75 per cent, of the farms oi 

 the country, and he, too, wants 

 eggs all the time, ifieat where 

 and when you show him a profit, 

 broodiness in August and Septem- 

 ber, and behind him and upon 

 whom he is dependant is the con- 

 sumer. How does the proposal 

 meet the position. 



