The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-11-14

them with leg bands, and keeping rec
 ords, In this way they were able to ar-
 rive at reliable conclusions, and many surprises were in store for the careful observer. It was found that many a
 beautiful specimen was seldom on the nest, Others equal in beauty were oc- casionally on the nest, but not very of the owner had deemed 1t wise to leave at home because not quite up to stand- ard points in Hooks" and general ap- pearance-were found so remarkable as layers that surprises became common, and such birds grew beautiful in tn- eyes of their respective owners, and were far more in demand, at fancy prices, than were their sisters. whose sole real claims to popularity could be their beauty in form and dress. q have met people of the same distinc- tive type)
 There is, I say, no best breed. There are best specimens among all fiocks, in every breed. One hen or bullet will lay three and four eggs where half sister will lay but one. The race of fowls, whatever the breed, should be perpetuated only from the best, while the indifferent layer has only one value, and there can be only one right place for her--the market or the home table. It is folly to incubate her eggs. The few one receives will produce race of drones if matched. The hen that is buried the day long hunting and sing ing, her voice heard all over the farm, Is the hen that will go regularly to her nest sometimes for two and three weeks at a time without skipping a day And when she does stop laying it
 is for only a short rest period. She is in few days more telling her owner that she has again proceeded to busi- ness.
 Nothing short of actual experience could have induced the writer to be- lieve that such differences did actually exist in one flock of hens. But close observation with trap nests to prove the truth of what I was intent upon getting at, made it all plain and clear that had been feeding and breeding drones. at the same time that I had been rearing goodly sized flock of layers that my proof plans had shown exceptional.
 IHe IduClST ldhe5 great pIldC HI building up strain of layers, no mat ter what their breed. To combine beauty and general utility is his ambi- tion. He has made rapid strides in such direction in the last year or two.
 And while I am talking of the fan cier and the poultry breeder in a gen. eral way, I shall drop the old phraseol- ogy that confines one to giving out the impression that the fancier is always masculine. We have more true fam ciers to-day among women than among men. We have more women who have helped to place the fancy where it is, than we have of men who have pushed the good work of poultry culture into a place of prominence and world recogni- tion as business.
 Each breeder may be excused, in a measure for declaring his own individ
 ual choice of breeds as the best Yet we must if candid, acknowledge that there Is practically no best breed among all breeds of fowls. Food, care, careful breeding and right manage ment will place all breeds among "frsts," until 1t becomes practically a matter of choice of form and plumage as to which breed shall be taken up exclusively and cultivated thoroughly. Hawks in the New York Fri bune Farmer