The Cairo bulletin., 1910-01-10
SUCCESS WITH PURE Breeds.
Highest Priced Stock is Often the
Best investment.

uiuCH tue SaIIIe III sehSia ca az '"oSN ASA
ordinary stock, but the emphasis Is
different on different points, more On
good foundation stock, good breeding
and good selling and less on early
Matching and stimulating feed. says
the American Cultiyator. Starting
with tirst-elass stock is very import
ant. Nigor is the main thing in start
ing any kind OF poultry Health and
vigor are as pre-eminently important
with poultry as with human beings
in leading To success. There Is
temptation to sacrifice health and Wig
or for fine plumage, but it is usually
possible to find stock that combines
both yig0r aud appearance, and when
such stock is found IL is worth buying
al any price.
The highest priced stock is often the
best investment to the man who knows
how to use IL If SO colkerel will
give you % young cockereis that sell
for an average price OF S. each and
p pullets averaging s. each. he has
paid for himself five times over the
first season, and is worth perhaps $50
himself TO carry over another season,
when he should repeat the perform
ance and still be worth $40 to carry
over a third season if in good vgor.
Even 4 s. bird that gives 80 chickens
worth an average OF $3.50 each is also
good Investment. He costs 10 cents
extra for each of his chickens but
adds at least rs to 50 cents each 10
their value over common stock.
The need Of getting vigorous stock
is even more important with pure
bred birds than with ordinary stock.
Better visit the place you buy from
and satisfy yourself The last place
to get vigorous stock Is in the back
yards and Easements in which the city
and suburban flocks are kept. Here
the hens will be mopy and dull look
poorly developed. understood for the
breed and cowardly. Some feeble
fiocks look we'll but show first signs
of trouble in the way the eggs hatch
There are poor matches and many
chickens die in the shell without any
special apparent cause. This Is COM
mon trouble in city and suburban
tlocks and means that it is time to
get new farm-bred stock else the diff
tieulty will grow worse year by year
until chickens will neither hatch WELL
live easily nor mature in good shape.
Many breeder has found that about
the time he gets his stock bred to
suit him ii begins to lose vigor. If it
were not for the fact that all fiocks
tend to so down In yigor, high scoring
birds would be the rule and not the
exception.
After once securing good, vigorous,
high grade stock work to keep it so.
The selection of the" right birds for
breeding is a study In itself and would
take columns Of writing to fully ex-
plain it for a single breed, but the
average man can soon learn to pick
ont his matings fairly we'll. As for
Gigor, it must be given special atten
ton in selecting, and the ock must
have wide range, especially during the
growing age. 1t is noticed that the
most successful breeders, those who
succeed in raising large numbers of
prize birds, and who keep up the ex-
cellence of their stock for long term
OF years. are those who give wide
range, or who put out their stock to
he raised by farmers under farm con-
ditions.
Early Matching is point aiV ays
emphasized for business focks with
common stock. but 1t Is much less I'M
portant for the raiser Of purebred
stock. 1t costs more to hatch and
raise an early chicken. and the price
of a pure-bred depends more on its
appearance than upon its early matur-
ity. except for a limited demand for
exhibition in the early poultry shows.
So most breeders try only to hatch
moderately; April, May and part Of
June, when eggs hatch best ana
chickens are easiest to raise. Birds
hatched In May will mature weH
enough by the following spring season
TO bring good prices. The greatest
demand for breeding stock is after
midwinter, February and March being
the months Of greatest activity in ship
ping fancy stock. Early Matching
then, is not essential: but late hatch
ing should be avoided because the
chickens will fail 10 reach full weight
and nearly all buyers insist on birds
that are heavy for the particular
breed wanted. Heavy weights com.
mand a premium both for exhibition
and for breeding fiocks.