The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-10-09
POULTRY AT FAIR,
WAYS OF JUDGING.
Chicken Breeders Have Good and
( Instructive Time Together.
Good Talks That Cheered.
ny WALTER 6. scuAAF.

Primarily, there are two systems
employed in the judging of fowls
the scorecard system and the compari-
son The scorecard system implies the
scoring or every bird In the show
room according to a printed formula.
BY this system the judge notes all
OF the defects in single specimen.
which are technically known as dis
Qualifications in which the bird is
entirely thrown out of the competi-
ton. or cuts" subject to discount To
be more explicit, these imperfections
arc duly noted on the card. For in
stance. bird has six points to his
comb instead of five; the Judge will
cut him one to two points. etc. These
cuts. added together, are subtracted
from the sum of 100, thus giving us
the scoring of q bird. Thus we
have birds scoring from IS to about 95.
which is about the highest score at
tanned. as an absolutely perfect bird
has as yet never been raised. Any
bird scoring under IS cannot compete;
in other words Is disqualified.
In the comparison system. which
system is used at our State Fair, all
of the birds of a given breed or va
.riety are placed together. and the
Judge, by the law of elimination, soon
has the bunch Whitfield down to the
five birds who are to figure In the
winning. The best of these birds gets
first. next best, second, etc, until the
five ribbons are placed on each class.
Possibly from an educational view the
sscorecard system Is much preferable.
as 1t tells us iust in what section our
birds are faulty. With comparison
there is none of this. All the exhibitor
learns is that his birds Were I'm the;
winning" or out of 1t
The Judges Talk on Poultry.
At the rooms of the Virginia Poultry
Association last tuesday night before
an audience of over 100 interested
poultry enthusiasts, Judge Jacquins, of
treat. After telling them that poultry
raising required work. and plenty of
it. combined with business ability
such as is needed in any other bust
ness he explained how the State OF
New York helped the poultry frater-
nifty by giving cash prizes at the poul-
try shows In equivalent of the same
amount as given by the associations.
The State also gives so many thou
ferent poultry departments of the
agricultural colleges. and finally the
cities and towns give the free use of
their armories or auditoriums for the
yearly poultry exhibits. Judge Jac-
,quins was followed by Judge Simmons,
of North Carolina, who thoroughly
explained to the audience why this
bird won the blue ribbon and the other
bird did not get placed. He had for
Illustration two birds brought down
from the fair exhibit, an he thorough-
ly succeeded in sending home his hear
ers with the determination to breed
better birds in preference to greater
quantities, Judge Simmons was fol-
lowed by the editor Of Poultry Item,
of Pennsylvania wno carried his de-.
4.ghted hearers over several of the
large commercial poultry plants OF the
North, where they have from five to
ten thousand laying hens on one&farm.
After this talk the visitors, with their
friends. partook of the hospitality of
the Poultry Association, and then
every ono departed With the "hope to
meet again at the Virginia Pon.try
Asso ooiation's show in j January. 1911. 81