Our  Canaries 
353 
A  QUESTION  OF  MATING. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  the  opinion  of  that  successful  Cardiff  breeder, 
Mr.  T.  H.  Melhuish,  about  mating  to  breed  winners.  "  It  is  not  necessary,"  he 
writes,  to  pair  winning  show  birds  to  breed  winners,  because  in  Yorkshires,  as 
in  other  breeds,  they  do  not  always  do  so,  but  throw  a  very  mixed  lot  of 
youngsters.  I  have  bred  a  lot  of  my  best  young  from  opposites.  I  have  heard 
strong  arguments  for  and  against  Belgian  crosses,  and  I  have  tried  the  pure 
Belgian,  and  also  the  three-quarter,  half,  and  quarter-bred  birds,  and  in  my 
opinion  unless  one  has  a  large  stock  and  breeds  extensively  there  is  no  need  to  go 
beyond  a  third  or  fourth  cross.  The  bulk  of  the  Yorkshires  to-day  have  good 
'  position  '  and  '  nerve.'  It  is  in  the  head  I  have  found  most  advantage  to  accrue 
from  a  good  filbert-headed  Belgian-cross  bird,  as  the  flat  skull  of  the  Lanca- 
shire is  hard  to  breed  out.  On  the  other  hand  I  have  had  good  results  from  a 
hen  showing  a  bit  of  Belgian,  and  a  cock  long  and  straight  in  the  back,  full- 
necked,  showing  decided  Crest-bred  or  cinnamon-Norwich  breeding,  and  from  the 
young  bred  first-class  specimens.  Observation  and  experience  will  soon  put  one 
in  the  right  way  once  the  stock  has  been  proved,  and  its  characteristic  traits  are 
known.  Always  keep  those  proved  to  be  mated  correctly  and  producing  the 
best  young  ;  don't  let  any  price  tempt  you  to  part  with  them." 
ANOTHER  VIEW  OF   THE  MATTER. 
This  system,  which  has  been  much  discussed  from  time  to  time,  has  its 
opponents  as  well  as  its  adherents,  and  with  certain  qualifications  both  are  right 
in  theory  and  in  practice.  The  real  crux  is  to  be  found  in  a  perfect  knowledge  of 
the  history  of  the  stock  in  question.  In  the  case  of  a  breed,  such  as  our  present 
subject,  which  owes  its  origin  to  several  widely  differing  types,  it  is  quite  probable 
that  two  exceptionally  good  show  specimens  if  one  (or  both)  of  them  happens  to 
be  a  recently  made  bird  would  produce  young  very  dissimilar  to  themselves,  and, 
maybe,  far  below  the  average  of  mediocre  exhibition  stock  ;  but  on  the  other 
hand  when  a  stock  has  been  well  established  and  bred  systematically  year  after 
year,  its  external  features  become  more  and  more  a  fixed  and  innate  property  of  the 
individual  members  of  the  stock,  and  in  that  case  it  is  quite  reasonable  to  expect 
that  the  birds  not  in  themselves  first-rate  shows  specimens  will  produce  progeny 
not  only  equal  but  much  superior  to  themselves.  Yet  notwithstanding  this  rule 
the  fact  remains  that  the  breeder  who  aspires  to  the  highest  place  must  also 
retain  and  utilise  as  far  as  possible  in  the  breeding  cage  his  most  typical  show 
specimens.  To  depend  mainly  on  second-rate  birds  for  stock,  however  good  the 
pedigree  may  be,  is  a  mistaken  idea  the  effect  of  which  will  be  to  keep  the  stock 
at  one  average  level  of  fair  mediocrity,  or  at  the  best  will  greatly  retard  the 
development  of  a  higher  standard  of  general  excellence. 
The  whole  matter  is  tersely  summed  up  by  Mr.  D.  Mallinson,  whose  long 
years  of  practical  experience  have  served  to  confirm  the  truth  of  this  law : 
