February 17,1881. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 143 
the frost. It is a common thing to find several eggs one morning, 
and then no more for some days. This is almost a certain sign 
that they are dropped in the water. Ducks almost invariably lay 
early in the morniDg, so they should be shut into houses over¬ 
night and kept in till they are likely to have laid their eggs in 
the morning. 
Turkeys also want watching as the laying season comes on. 
They wander about in search of a nest, often to immense dis¬ 
tances, and far beyond their owner’s domain. They may before 
they have laid be easily induced to take to a desirable nest, but 
when once one egg has been deposited in a place they are very 
pertinacious in returning to it, quite regardless of there never 
being a single egg left in it. We have in this way often had 
Turkey eggs stolen by people who had discovered the foolish hens’ 
favourite laying place.—0. 
PRACTICAL SCIENTIFIC BREEDING. 
{Continued from page 84.) 
FORMING A STRAIN. 
Having arrived at the practical conclusion that in-breeding, 
though it may be sometimes productive of evil results, is a neces¬ 
sity, we now come to the consideration of the best method of 
establishing a strain. Every true fancier has for his object the 
attaining of perfection in the particular breed or variety which is 
the subject of his choice. He sets before himself an ideal which 
he desires if possible to attain, and the more difficult it is to attain 
that ideal the more exciting and interesting is the pursuit of it. 
The beginner, therefore, should, before attempting to breed or 
exhibit any variety, have fixed and clearly settled in his mind the 
standard points of the variety. These are, for the most part, well 
settled, and can be ascertained by a perusal of the various works 
upon the subject, and by a careful study of the winning birds at 
some leading shows. 
It may seem at first sight to the outsider that the breeding of 
poultry or Pigeons is a mere child’s play, unworthy of serious atten¬ 
tion, but a practical acquaintance with the subject soon teaches 
the fancier that the attainment of absolute perfection in any 
variety is almost an impossibility. There are as a general rule so 
many points, all of which require to be bred for, that it is an 
extremely difficult matter to unite them all in perfection in one 
individual. It is for this reason that even the most successful 
exhibition birds are open to hostile criticism, and the different 
degree of weight attached by different judges to failure in the 
various points of a breed is the most fertile source of those varia¬ 
tions in judging which so frequently puzzle a beginner. We will 
suppose, then, that the reader has determined which breed or 
variety he means to keep, and has obtained a fair knowledge of 
its leading points. Having reached this point there are the pro¬ 
verbial three courses at least open to him, and which of the three 
he chooses must depend upon his individual taste and circum¬ 
stances. The first, and in one way the most simple course, and 
that which is most likely at once to produce a profitable return, is 
to go to a breeder and exhibitor of high standing and select from 
his yards a breeding pen of birds of the same strain. This, how¬ 
ever, can hardly be called forming a strain ; it is rather taking up 
the results of another man’s labours and forming a sub-strain for 
the merit of which as a strain he is entitled to all the credit. 
There are these further objections to this course, that if the 
exhibitor from whom the purchase is made be one of high standing 
he will probably expect a very large price for really good birds, 
and will also expect to be paid for, in effect, mating up a yard for 
the purchaser and enabling him at once to breed birds of esta¬ 
blished strain. Two birds which are suitable for mating with 
each other, and which a fancier would willingly sell for, say, £10 
each, he would generally be unwilling to sell together for £20. 
In fact, we know several leading fanciers who will not sell mated- 
up yards at any price. There are, of course, some who will honestly 
do so, and there are others who will pretend to do so, and then sell 
birds which they well know are badly suited for breeding with 
each other. A further difficulty presents itself in the fact that a 
sub-strain started in this way must have been largely in-bred in the 
hands of the original breeder, and the purchaser can hardly ascer¬ 
tain with certainty the extent to which this in-breeding has been 
carried, or the actual mutual relationship of the birds purchased 
by him. 
Purchasing sittings of eggs from a well-known yard is merely 
another form of the method of beginning already referred to. It 
of course is not open to the same objections as to cost, but it is 
open to the latter objection as to uncertainty how far the original 
stock may have been in-bred, &c., and to the further objection that 
it is by no means an invariable rule amongst vendors of eggs to 
sell from their best stock. Some of the most celebrated fanciers 
altogether decline to sell eggs for hatching ; and indeed when we 
consider that a sitting of eggs honestly sold for, say, a guinea, 
may produce three or four birds each worth £20, and that the 
purchaser may in this way at once obtain the strain of the seller, 
this refusal to sell eggs is not to be wondered at. 
The second course open to the beginner is the one which is really 
the most advantageous if circumstances allow of it. It is to pur¬ 
chase, cost what they may, a cockerel and from one to four pullets 
as nearly perfect in points as can be procured. The birds should, 
as far as practicable, be entirely unrelated to each other, and 
the number of pullets purchased should be in proportion to the 
number of breeding yards which the fancier is prepared to main¬ 
tain. Glaring faults of any kind must be carefully eschewed, as 
by the method of breeding which we are about to recommend 
they would certainly be reproduced in the progeny. This process 
will, in regard to many breeds, be a most expensive one, and it is 
open to the further disadvantage that the purchaser must not 
expect, at least in the first year, to obtain any adequate return for 
his expenditure. It is true that as a general rule it is better not to 
breed from a cockerel mated with pullets, but in starting a strain 
the short life of the birds renders such a course almost indispen¬ 
sable. A cockerel and one pullet is sufficient to begin with ; but 
we should recommend, with a view to the permanent maintenance 
of the strain, that at least two pullets should be purchased. As the 
method of breeding is equally applicable whatever the original 
number may be, and as in the case of Pigeons only a pair can be 
bred from, we shall proceed upon the footing that the start is" 
made with a cockerel and one pullet, or a pair of Pigeons. 
The third course open to the beginner is to purchase birds of 
fair quality at moderate prices, and by judicious breeding and 
artificial selection to work up to the standard. This is the 
course which we were through circumstances compelled at first 
to adopt, and although it is rather a tedious process, it is still a 
very interesting one. It does not, however, produce at first any 
adequate return for the time and trouble bestowed. It is, in regard 
to the established breeds, a going over again of ground which has 
been already well trodden ; and we should therefore recommend 
such of our readers as cannot afford to purchase really good 
birds of the established breeds, rather to take up the newer and 
less known breeds in which the points have not been so firmly 
established, and to do for them what the leading breeders of the 
established breeds have already done for their favourites. 
(To be continued.) 
SUCCESSFUL POULTRY KEEPING. 
Mr. Walker has kindly furnished us with the following return 
of the number of eggs laid each week by “ L. D.’s ” White 
Dorkings. It will be remembered that from a stock of two hens 
and ten pullets to start with, “ L. D.” had last year 1981 eggs, 
which we set down as 165 eggs per hen. It appears, however, 
from Mr. Walker’s letter with the returns that some of the pullets 
hatched early in the year commenced laying in the months of 
November and December. The return per hen is therefore not 
quite so high as we put it ; but even so “L. D.” has just cause 
to be satisfied with the laying qualities of the birds. 
Week 
ending. 
No. of Eggs. 
Week 
ending. 
No. of Eggs. 
Week 
ending. 
No. of Eggs. 
Brt. frwd. 660 
Brt. frwd. 1526 
Jau. 
3 
1 
May 7 
46 
Sept. 17 
23 
8 
6 
„ 14 
46 
„ 24 
30 
12 
7 
„ 21 
32 
Oct. 1 
31 
17 
6 
„ 28 
22 
„ 8 
30 
23 
18 
June 4 
57 
„ 15 
16 
30 
19 
„ 11 
62 
„ 22 
16 
Feb. 
6 
26 
„ 18 
57 
„ 29 
11 
13 
38 
„ 25 
59 
Nov. 5 
19 
20 
50 
July 2 
52 
» 12 
21 
27 
60 
9 
66 
„ 19 
23 
March 
6 
64 
„ 16 
65 
26 
27 
13 
58 
„ 23 
50 
Dec. 3 
29 
20 
53 
„ 30 
32 
„ 10 
28 
27 
57 
Aug. 6 
40 
„ 17 
36 
April 
3 
58 
„ 13 
43 
„ 24 
63 
10 
50 
„ 20 
58 
» 31 
55 
17 
40 
27 
45 
24 
30 
Sept. 3 
28 
ft 
30 
39 
„ 10 
16 
Carried forward 660 
Carried forward 1526 
Total 1184 
EGGS IN WINTER. 
You ask for experiences on the production of eggs in winter. 
I have for the past eight years kept Dark Brahmas, but in 1879 I 
