148 
Our  Canaries 
SELECTION  OF  STOCK. 
Writing  upon  this  subject,  our  friend,  Mr.  R.  G.  Joliffe,  says:— "In  the 
selection  of  stock  for  breeding  purposes  I  would  strongly  recommend  fanciers  to 
purchase  none  but  good  birds.  It  is  not  necessary  that  they  be  prize  birds,  but 
the  cock  or  hen  should  at  least  be  a  bird  of  outstanding  merit ;  and  I  would 
advise  that  the  cock  bird  should  excel  in  the  points  most  highly-esteemed  by 
fanciers  ;  be  careful  that  your  birds  are  of  good  constitution.  Many  may  meet  with 
disappointment  in  failing  to  get  good  birds  from  well-bred  parents,  in  point  of  fact 
even  highly-bred  birds  do  not  in  many  cases  bring  forth  the  best  results.  From  a 
good  bird,  judiciously  matched  with  one  known  to  be  of  a  good  strain,  the  best 
results  are  often  obtained.  When  birds  are  too  highly-bred,  the  young  generally 
are  found  to  be  very  tender  and  difficult  to  rear.  It  is  a  mistake  to  match  two  birds 
of  almost  equal  merit  in  points,  unless  they  possess  to  an  equal  degree,  or  almost 
so,  all  the  good  points  so  much  desired.  Care  should  always  be  taken  not  to  pair 
two  birds  of  moderate  quality  together.  But  care  should  be  taken  that  in 
matching  or  pairing  your  birds,  it  should  be  done  in  such  a  manner  that  one  bird 
is  conspicuous  in  points  lacking  in  the  other.  By  adopting  this  principle,  the 
blending  of  both  will  often  result  in  one  or  two  good  birds  being  obtained." 
THE  VALUE  OF  A  PEDIGREE. 
The  successful  breeder  of  high-class  stock  cannot  afford  to  dispense  with  a 
complete  register  and  stud-book  in  which  to  preserve  for  future  reference  and 
guidance  the  pedigree  of  his  breeding  stock,  as  far  back  as  it  can  be  traced  with 
certainty.  It  is  not  sufficient  to  know  only  the  parents  of  the  individual  birds, 
nor  yet  the  grand-parents,  but  to  ensure  thorough  control  over  the  results  of 
breeding  as  far  as  it  is  possible  to  secure  it  one  must  be  able  to  trace  its  breed- 
ing backwards  for  several  generations — certainly  not  less  than  five  or  six,  and 
the  longer  the  unbroken  chain  of  years  over  which  one  can  ascertain  the 
undoubted  parentage  of  each  bird  of  a  pair,  the  more  precise  a  judgment  will  he 
be  able  to  form  as  to  the  character  and  quality  of  young  they  will  produce. 
On  this  point  Mr.  W.  Spillman,  the  well-known  Norwich  enthusiast  of 
Devonport,  sends  us  some  pertinent  remarks.  "  Do  drive  home  the  point  of  good 
breeding,"  he  writes.  "  Avoid  the  introduction  of  foreign  blood  as  you  would  a 
pestilence.  If  pedigree  is  of  no  avail,  why  is  it  that  nearly  all  I  know  who  breed 
methodically  get  less  wasters  than  the  haphazard  breeder,  although  the  latter 
may  spend  as  many  pounds  as  we  spend  shillings  ?  Year  after  year,  I  know 
people  who  send  afar  for  fresh  stock,  pay  fabulous  prices,  and  they  remain  in 
the  same  old  groove. 
"  Of  one  thing  I  am  certain,  and  convinced  more  than  ever,  that  the  hen 
plays  the  most  important  part  in  the  type  and  quality.  At  the  same  time  it  is 
not  necessary  to  have  an  exhibition  bird  on  either  side  to  breed  winners.  I  could 
say  much  about  what  has  happened  in  my  twenty  years  undivided  attention  to 
